When I lived in Boston many years ago, there was a show on television called “This Old House.” Each season of the show, the host Bob Vila, handyman, architect, contractor and visionary would select an old house in the Boston vicinity. Many times, these homes were not merely in need of renovation—they were in need… Continue reading This Old House
Month: May 2013
Nina
Sometimes you just get lucky. When I was pregnant with my first child, during my radiation oncology residency, we had a guy living in the apartment over our garage, which we liked to refer to as “the carriage house.” He was a dog trainer by trade, and in his spare time he played softball in… Continue reading Nina
The Red Baton
While I was in Boston last week, I got an email addressed to the School of Medicine faculty group from the president of the first year medical school class. It was an invitation to attend a ceremony which took place three days ago, on the courtyard lawn of the medical school. This ceremony was… Continue reading The Red Baton
Trot Trot to Boston
“Trot trot to Boston Trot trot to Lynn Watch out Baby So you don’t FALL IN!” Nursery Rhyme My road trip expectations always exceed their reality. Last Wednesday evening, after a frantic day of packing which included a trip to the tailor to pick up her favorite dress being repaired for a ripped hemline, my… Continue reading Trot Trot to Boston
Happy Mother’s Day
They lied to us, they did–Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem and all the others who told us back in the 60’s and 70’s that we could have it all. Or maybe they weren’t exactly lying to the impressionable girls graduating from high school and like me, beginning their college and subsequent careers as professionals in… Continue reading Happy Mother’s Day
Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On
Yesterday I had the unique experience of watching a production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, acted, with musical accompaniment, entirely by a group of fifth graders. Friends of mine from Los Angeles, himself a teacher at the Hobart Boulevard public elementary school, had invited me to this year’s presentation by the Hobart Shakespeareans. As many… Continue reading Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On
There Are No Shortcuts
“SHOW ME A BMS (Best Medical Student, a student at the Best Medical School) WHO ONLY TRIPLES MY WORK AND I WILL KISS HIS FEET.” The House of God At roughly 3 o’clock yesterday I was putting together a hasty lunch in our tiny break room. It was nothing special, just the usual—fresh mozzarella cheese… Continue reading There Are No Shortcuts
Cancer and AIDS, AIDS and Cancer
For Dr. Abraham Verghese, who inspires me. This evening on the way home from Boston I finished a book that I had started more than a month ago, on my way back from Albuquerque. Well, that is not entirely truthful. I stopped reading on page 408, because if I had kept going everyone on the… Continue reading Cancer and AIDS, AIDS and Cancer
A Culture of Tenacity
It occurred to me yesterday evening as I walked off my flight from San Diego into Terminal C at Boston’s Logan Airport that I have done this before—landed at an East Coast hub two weeks after a major terrorist attack. On September 20, 2001, my daughter and I, not without some hesitation, boarded a flight… Continue reading A Culture of Tenacity