Rob Densen from the Huffington Post, August 30, 2011

Our late refrigerator was a full-length side by side, with beveled wood panels on the doors which we got to match the cabinetry when we remodeled the kitchen. When it came to a replacement, I had relented on figuring out how to match the cabinets, but I was insistent on a side by side. My wife preferred the fridge-on-top-with-French-doors-freezer-on-the-bottom arrangement that is all the rage.

For the record, my preference for a side by side wasn’t just a matter of style. With a reconstructed knee, a frozen shoulder, and two bulging discs in my back wrapped around a giant lazy streak, I generally go out of my way to avoid any sort of bending motion. It’s not impossible, just a little uncomfortable.

In the week we dilly-dallied, the food was melting in the fridge — and my wife was on the way.

The next night I returned home and all was fine. “I ordered the top/down model. It will be here Thursday.”

She had been to her Pilates class earlier in the day and, in the midst of a long discussion with her instructor, it all became clear. “I realized,” she said, “that this will be my last refrigerator.”

A Life Measured in Kilowatt Hours

I couldn’t argue with her. Not with the logic and, most regrettably, not with the truthfulness of that statement. My wife has Stage IV lung cancer. Given the arc of the disease and the quality of refrigerator design and construction, it is highly probable that this will be her last refrigerator. The question is, are we also on our last washing machine, hairdryer or big screen TV?