A natural-health newsletter alerts me to the rise of cancer among pharmacists, nurses, and doctors who handle chimotherapy chemicals. Rick the Health Ranger says, "Treating cancer with chemotherapy is like […]

Thirty-two years ago, I lost the love of my life, and my love lost his life, and all his loves. It never stops aching. Not entirely. Every June 18, unless […]

A full month after the surgery, the lab results arrived. They were said to be due within two weeks. Good. That way, I thought, I can plan my summer. If […]

The acquisition of wisdom is seldom much fun. The happiness part comes later, once the pain subsides. Take me, the woman stepping around town now with a smile wrapped twice […]

"Is a life so small?" Lately, I hear that cry of anguish again, every day. The heart-shaped face of my Hawaiian poet-friend, Susan Starr, arises from memory. Eleven years ago, […]

As soon as I’d clambered into the house, I waddled into the bathroom and weighed myself. Two pounds heavier than when I’d entered the hospital. I put a tape measure […]

A left-behind stethoscope was our ticket into the Borborygmi Theater. A nurse or doctor had momentarily forgotten the thing. With a conspiratorial glance, Kay and I began listening through it, […]