The clinical setting is intended to be a stronghold of professionalism, order, and antiseptic regularity. We anticipate white coats, frigid stethoscopes, and the quiet tones of medical language when we walk into doctors’ offices. However, these typical visits frequently break down due to the junction of unpredictable bodies and fragile persons that occurs in medicine,…
The dreadful mathematics of debt was the yardstick by which life was measured in the chilly, drafty nooks of my boyhood home. With dull pencils and a calculator that lacked the number seven, my parents were masters of a certain form of warfare. The invoices were arranged like war plans at the kitchen table, and…
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The change from a life of two to a life of five was meant to be a joyous occasion, a hectic but happy extension of the universe that Gale and I had created together. It turned into the instant my universe broke into a thousand sharp fragments instead. I was sitting in a sterile hospital…
Grief is a thief who steals in phases, but for me, Rachel, the gradual, methodical erasure that followed the first loss was the biggest crime. My mother died when I was fourteen, a bereavement that reduced the vivid hues of my early years to a dreadful quiet. The person who cooked and combed my hair…
Christmas was never just a vacation to Caleb; it was a time to remember. It was the day when the world had brought him the most happiness while also exacting its most terrible cost. Caleb had stood in a sterile hospital room ten years ago, watching the light drain out of his wife Katie’s eyes…
Life can be hectic, and kindness isn’t often our first reaction when things are tough. However, even modest deeds of kindness, whether offered or received, can have a profound impact. These brief, real-life tales serve as a reminder of the strength of kindness, even in the face of difficulty. One woman remembered her grandmother knitting…
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The cadence of life with Ron had settled into a series of familiar, comforting silences after 35 years of marriage. We traveled through the house like two satellites in a shared orbit, just far enough apart to prevent a collision but close enough to sustain a gravitational pull. The smell of soap and the warmth…
Brad Arnold’s career has been characterized for more than 20 years by the driving beat of a post-grunge anthem and the resonance of a gravelly voice. His lyrics, as the lead singer of 3 Doors Down, frequently addressed themes of loneliness, resiliency, and the pursuit of a “Kryptonite” to combat the stresses of the outside…
Read More “Popular Rock Band Singer Reveals Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis!” »
Already, the divorce process had become an exhausting marathon of character assassination. Sitting across the aisle in a position of practiced composure, my husband Caleb presented himself before the court as the victim of my alleged “emotional volatility.” I was seen as the broken parent, while he was seen by the public as the reliable…
In the early hours of Monday morning, the peace of a summer night close to Johannesburg was brutally shattered when a sudden and unexplained burst of gunfire left nine individuals dead and a town immobilized by grief. One of the worst incidents of public violence in the area this year occurred in the municipality of…
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