Gracie gave her doctor the finger, literally and now figuratively as well. She had the tip of her finger amputated last Friday in order to rid the bone of infection. Today, we saw the wound for the first time. The flat end was crimped, as though someone had taken giant, somewhat dull scissors and cut off the fingertip.

Gracie told the doctor “it looks like poop.” I assured the doctor that she meant it in the most literal sense, since there was a black rim of dried blood and dead tissue at the top of the wound. Secretly, though, I wonder if she truly meant it figuratively–if she was letting the doctor know exactly what she thought about losing a finger.

She is too young to understand that there really wasn’t a choice; that if her body had fought the infection, if the antibiotics had been more effective, she may have been able to keep her finger. Instead, though, she gave the doctor the finger. I suppose, if I were a just-turned-four-year-old, I would want to give that doctor the finger, too.