On this supposed day of luck (07-07-07), my can opener of 22 years has finally given up the ghost, kicked the bucket, passed on to the great beyond. It tried valiantly to open just one last can of dog food for Kashi, but had not the energy to cut another lid.

I admit, the faithfulness of my opener's service has dropped off in recent months. I would have to hold it at an angle and cajole it to finish the job. The amount of encouragement it needed per can grew exponentially over the past month, until this day. It punctured the lid and creaked about a third of the way around before it petered out. No words came to mind that were sufficient enough to finish the job. Its time had come.

This can opener has been with me through three college degrees, a mission trip to Africa, and moving around six states. I cannot even imagine how many cans it has opened in that time. I suppose I should accept the inevitability of it all and make a trip to Target. I just cannot help but wish it had managed to hang on long enough until I got a job...