In genetics, Errol’s defect is referred to as a spontaneous mutation. In his earliest embryonic days, gene 57 misfired and then replicated itself over and over again. It’s amazing what a difference one little gene can make (they are smaller than you could even imagine) in our ability to walk, talk, think, floss, or even for our heart to beat just so. It’s astonishing that one little genetic misfiring can exact such a price, then again, when you think about it, it’s amazing that any of us are here at all. After all, a lot has to go right for anybody to be breathing, and I think it would be fairly safe to say that in the big scheme of things, we’re all just hanging by a thread. If the planet were just 5 degrees warmer, we probably wouldn’t be here (or not for long); if the mix of carbon and oxygen on the earth were just tweaked a bit one way or the other, none of us would be breathing; and in the course of human history, if our great, great, great, grandfather hadn’t (insert family history here) been walking down the street when our great, great, great grandmother went flouncing past, what seems so inevitable, wouldn’t have happened at all, and we would be (or not be) history. We are very lucky to be here in this most improbable moment. Enjoy it, I say, and Errol certainly is, because despite gene 57 most egregiously compromising the Little Man’s (Errol’s) bodily functions, it hasn’t taken away one ounce of his happiness.
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