For those of you too young to remember the television show “MacGyver,” allow me to share about the 1980s American action-adventure series.  The show was about a secret agent, Angus MacGyver, who employed his resourcefulness and knowledge of chemistry, physics, and technology, and often a little duct tape and a Swiss Army knife, to resolve what were often life or death situations. 

I’m married to a MacGyver kind of guy.  I’ve nicknamed my husband Allen, “MacGyver.”

We were barely married a year when I witnessed the use of our four-door AMC Concord, with a tow rope tied to the bumper, pulling out unwanted bushes from our front yard.  I looked out the living room window just in time to see the Concord burn rubber on the road while the ugly bushes went flying out of the ground.  Mission accomplished MacGyver.

He’s the same husband that used my Kitchen Aid mixer to whip up a batch of joint compound.  It’s also my MacGyver that attached a wire wheel to his electric drill to sand off burned-on lasagna from a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish.  Yes, the dish is still in one piece. 

This week we’ve been on another action adventure.  For just $20 a month we were able to upgrade our cable service to include even more channels of nothing to watch.  What a deal.  Mr. Cable Install Man came out earlier in the week to work his magic.  We are now the proud owners of an upgraded cable box that is supposed to operate our television, but doesn’t. 

You see, we don’t have just a simple TV.  Years ago MacGyver selected an impressive, high-tech system for our entertainment. While we’re seated in the living room with the TV, all of the equipment for the TV, DVD and stereo is through the kitchen, down the hall, and in the laundry room.  With the inventions of remote controls and radio frequencies, all we have to do is push a few buttons and we should now have dozens of channels at our fingertips. 

One big problem—these upgraded channels, plus the ones we used to have, got lost somewhere between the living room and the laundry room during this upgrade.  Mr. Cable Install Man couldn’t figure out why, so he left the solution to MacGyver. 

MacGyver has spent the last three nights on an action adventure. He was not about to give up.  After all, when there is a crisis, all we need are a few drills, a little duct tape, some creativity and imagination and eventually, it shall work.  It did not.  So, for the first time in our 26-year marriage, MacGyver was stumped.  Fortunately, he stopped short of using the Kitchen Aid before he resorted to calling in a television/computer technologist.

You know, sometimes you just need an expert.  No matter how knowledgeable you are, and how hard you try, there are just some things beyond our skill levels.  Take for example, heart surgery.  If my personal crisis ever grew from small matters like television and radio frequencies to blocked arteries, I’d want an experienced cardiothoracic surgeon operating on me, using the latest in cardiovascular technology in a well-equipped operating suite. 

There is a time and place for everything. Our time and place is now.  We have the opportunity to equip our community with two new cardiac operating suites.  We are half way through our six-week fund drive to raise $1 million towards a $10.5 million cardiovascular services program at Emanuel.  But we need your help to do it.  Pledging is not an adventure and you don’t need duct tape or a Swiss Army knife to do it.  All you need to do is phone 664-5180 to pledge.  It’s that simple to support something that is extremely complex and intricate and may save your life some day, because MacGyver can’t.

Pennie Rorex is a member and volunteer for Legacy Circle of Emanuel.