Here I am in Boston, on the eve of my very first writer’s conference, feeling a bit like an imposter. After all, the extent of my writing so far has been this blog, apart from thousands of histories, physical exams and treatment plans over the last thirty-nine years since starting medical school. It occurred… Continue reading Two Hundred and Nine Short Essays Later
Category: General Observations
An American Safari
I’ve always secretly envied families who served as hosts for AFS, the American Field Service, which promotes cultural exchange by bringing high school students from foreign countries here for a year, and by sending our own students around the world. As a doctor-mom busy with the balancing act of raising her own three children while… Continue reading An American Safari
Moving Mom
Another guest blog tonight from my friend Jackie–I can certainly relate and I know many of you can too! My Mother turns 90 next month. She is selling her house of 28 years and moving in with us. It’s official: I am a grown-up. Time is a funny thing. I remember I couldn’t… Continue reading Moving Mom
A True Story
As a child, I dreamed of going to Africa some day on safari. Late at night I would drift to sleep hearing the imagined trumpeting of a bull elephant, and seeing visions of elegant giraffes moving like tall masted ships through the grasslands of the Serengeti behind my closed eyes. I read voraciously—first children’s books… Continue reading A True Story
Get Your Kicks on Route 66
No one would ever call me a drama queen–at least, not in the figurative sense. Not in the literal sense either, since never once in my sixty years have I ever tried out for the elementary school play, the high school musical, the college a capella groups or the fourth year medical student end of… Continue reading Get Your Kicks on Route 66
How to Save a Life
And I would have stayed up with you all night–Had I known how to save a life. The Fray, “How to Save a Life” The tenth season of Grey’s Anatomy premieres tomorrow night. For the cognoscenti, this means we will find out what happened after the cliff hanger of last season: Will April really leave… Continue reading How to Save a Life
Facebook Flicks
Fourteen years ago, writer/actor/director Christopher Guest made a little movie called “Best in Show”, supposedly a movie about dog shows, but more accurately a very funny movie about people who show dogs. The film was eagerly anticipated in the dog show world, since many of us knew which dogs of each breed had been chosen… Continue reading Facebook Flicks
Curmudgeonly Me
I didn’t like my flu shot very much this year. Some years they hurt worse than others, and I haven’t yet figured out whether that depends on which nurse gives me the shot, or which strain I am being vaccinated against. This year was a bad one—within 24 hours my arm was so sore that… Continue reading Curmudgeonly Me
Ring Out The Old
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring… Continue reading Ring Out The Old
All I Want For Christmas Is You
Today, along with millions of other Americans, I made a last minute dash to the mall. Since Hanukah fell most improbably on Thanksgiving this year, and since I was too busy burning the turkey and side dishes to burn candles, we decided to celebrate Christmas instead. It will be a small celebration—my daughter is on… Continue reading All I Want For Christmas Is You