It began with a small pinpoint of green at the tip of an otherwise brown stem. It was the shade of green that we associate with new life, bright, hopeful, and stretching to the sun in which it delights. I marveled in the truth of what I once thought dead, had life. I do not […]

We were on a three-hour road trip. My husband Scott was “driving” a self-driving car, our friend Jerry sat in the passenger seat, and I was in the back. Jerry was trying to reel in his fear from taking his first-ever ride in a self-driving car and tamp down his growing hunger as the aroma […]

In June of 2017, I visited the famous Western Wall in Jerusalem. On this beautiful, cloudless day, the sky a brilliant blue, the place was packed with pilgrims who had come to pray. With my head covered out of respect for the traditions of this sacred place, I approached the women’s side to pray with […]

The Covid-19 pandemic may finally be slowing, but the pandemic has shone a stark light on one human problem that we’ll never escape. One day books analyzing the pandemic will fill whole rows in libraries, but no analysis can dim the glaring human condition that we must face—the fact that we’re all going to die. […]

She was beautiful in this moment. Though I only heard silence and the occasional voice from beyond the camera lens. She was dancing. A slender girl with limbs moving to an unheard rhythm. I could imagine the music by the emotions that emanated from her. She was a girl dancing alone with pure joy. This […]

A child has a traumatic brain injury caused by a stray bullet. Parents clutch the child with an awareness of warmth that will soon fade away. An entry and exit wound quickly assessed by paramedics and reported to receiving trauma center. A solemn response is heard from a disembodied voice in return. It is the […]

My youngest son is 21. As with most guys his age, hanging out with mom does not top the list of “fun things to do.” However, this was the fourth of July, and I had just bought a new surfboard. (It was a garage sale find; hence, it was doubly special).  I am not much […]

The year was 1889 and a physician by the name of Dr. Stephen Paget was studying postmortem data on patients that had succumbed to breast cancer. He noted that there were patterns of metastasis that could not be explained by the previous belief that cancer cells migrate “downstream” or to the closest organ. He described […]

“I’m ready to die,” Mr. G. announced to his wife who was standing at his side. She understood this need as she had witnessed the decline from a lung disease which first stole the living out of life and then stole the life out of everything else as he fought to hold on for her. […]