But all great voyagers return Home like the hunter, like the hare To its burrow; below, earth’s axle turns To speed their coming, the following fair Winds bless their voyage, blow their safe return. Barbara Howes Today I saw an 80 year old patient with skin cancer—not a melanoma—the dangerous one, but a routine garden… Continue reading Finding Your Way Home, Again
Month: December 2012
No I Could Not Write a Book
Since I’ve been writing this blog, quite a few people have said to me, “You should write a book!” Let me be clear in my self-assessment—first of all, I don’t have the attention span these days to write a book. A novel has a plot, well developed characters, a beginning, a middle and an ending. … Continue reading No I Could Not Write a Book
On Friendship, by Jackie Widen
My adult daughter and I were having a discussion recently about friendships. She is at that awkward age – mid 20’s and graduated from a college that is now 2,000 miles away, early married and living in a city different from where she grew up. Her circle of friends has changed over these past… Continue reading On Friendship, by Jackie Widen
From the Margins
One of the things that obsessive compulsive people do is to check things. And recheck them. And check them again. The Dashboard feature on WordPress makes this habit hard to resist. Every time I hit the Dashboard button, I can see how many people have been reading the blog, and how many times the page… Continue reading From the Margins
I Do Not Need A Concierge
My veterinarian answers my phone calls. The other day I called her office to ask for a renewal of the pain medication for my little dog Jack. He has been blind and deaf for over a year, but now his rear end is going and he is falling a lot and having a hard time… Continue reading I Do Not Need A Concierge
You Can’t Go Home Again
“Look homeward Angel, now and melt with ruth, And O, ye Dolphins’ waft the hapless youth” In the fall of 1971, I entered Yale University as one of 250 freshman women, the third class of women to be admitted to a college still dedicated to the concept of graduating “1000 male leaders” a year. … Continue reading You Can’t Go Home Again
Dear Diary
I was talking to a friend the other day about the fact that what we now call “blogs”, we used to call diaries. Then I said to her, “I should pull out the diaries that I kept in college and in medical school and see what my old self had to say.” And so I… Continue reading Dear Diary
The Care At The End Of The Road
Seven months ago, in Carbondale, Colorado, staff at the skilled nursing facility where my mother had resided for over a year recommended that she be placed on hospice. My mother has severe advanced dementia and can no longer walk, speak, feed herself or recognize her family members. As much as I know about hospice care… Continue reading The Care At The End Of The Road
Get A Cat
I have to admit it—I never liked cats. Actually, to be more accurate, they never liked me. Where dogs would always drool and fawn, the cats I knew as a child were reserved and aloof, and heaven forbid you should touch them in the wrong place. The reward could be bite marks and a row… Continue reading Get A Cat