Well, sorta.
It was spring break, Mitch was home, just him for a change. I like his girlfriend Erin, but it's nice to have just him sometimes. When those times come, we often end up in the garage. We pull the cars out, set up saw horses, run for materials, and dive into "sawdust therapy."
We spent the morning running around town looking for the right combinations of oak for him to start work on a rocking chair and for me to continue work on a cabinet for choir folders. By mid afternoon, the wood chips were a flyin'!
Laurie was visiting girlfriends in town so it was just Mitch and I. I made a run for some of the best steaks I could find and had just put them on the grill when I heard a "ping!" From the garage and Mitch yelling an expletive and "Dad! Get in the car!"
What happened was, he was doing a complicated cut on my table saw. It was made slightly easier by the fact that I had taken most of the safety devices off the saw and he was pulling a piece of wood against the blade. (Something you couldn't do until I had modified the saw) so the blade grabbed the wood chunk and pulled it across the blade with the fingers attached and lacerated them, not off, but through the muscle, tendon, and bone.
I drove to the hospital, Mitch texted Erin who jumped in the car, I called Laurie, and we made it without much additional blood spilt.
The fingers today (about 6 months later) are still attached but two of them are pretty non-functional. There is a chance at new joints when arthritis sets in. (It will) He seems to be doing ok with it, has quit playing guitar for the most part, and has focused in visual art.
I'm not doing as well as he. I loved his guitar playing more than he does. I took the guards off the saw. I wasn't in the room when he made an ill-advised cut. I also couldn't pay his medical bills (which were overwhelming for him) it's just another occasion where my ability to support my family financially has been a disappointment to me.
