Life of Inanimate Object

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A few weeks ago our microwave stopped doing what it's supposed to. That is, to heat. We thought that it was just a glitch and it will work fine after a while. All gadgets do that, malfunction sometimes but work okay otherwise. Just give them a break now and then. So I gave it a cooloff time for a few hours by not using it. Then later that day I put a cup of milk to warm, but nothing. Cold as it was before. Just like that. No warning, nothing. Simply not working. I checked for any loose connection, any other obvious signs but on the surface everything is just fine. Clock is working, light turns on when door is opened, turntable rotates when on, but just not warming.

I was not ready for this. My beloved microwave not working? It has never happened before. It will be fine, I assure myself. And then I tried to warn a glass of water. Okay, wait for 30 seconds and ding! I opened the door gently and took water out. Cold! Oh no.

I have this sinking feeling that something is wrong but I kept telling myself that it can be fixed. Sure, why not. A while ago, its wheel under turntable had broken and we fixed that and it worked just fine. Little bit shaky at times, but alright in all other respects. So, this time can't be any different.

Its behavior made me stop and think about its presence in our lives from the day we were a newlywed couple. Everything was new and everything was full of possibilities. When we received this as a wedding gift, it was more than a gadget, it was the beginning of experiments in culinary journey. We instantly fell in love with this and the bond grew stronger with each bowl of cereal that we warmed in it. Initially I followed every instruction of the manual and then trial phase began. I cooked, boiled, fried, and baked. I even placed steel dish in it just to see what happens. Okay, that was a bad idea, don't do it, ever!

Years passed. We moved from place to place and this moved with us. It was always the last to be packed and first to be opened during every move. It had been there for every occasion and had been part of every meal of the day. It reheated stuff countless times. But no more. Now after a few days of denial, we are finally convinced that after a very short ten years the time has come to say goodbye.

We look at its clock. It's showing the time, time for a change, time to move on. We take a deep breath and decide to let it go. We have to. We have a history and that needs to be told. We unplug it and put it in its box. A new one will be plugged in shortly after but we know nothing can replace our first from our hearts.