At my house, Christmas Eve is the night when we’ve always celebrated the most. Decades ago there were elaborate dinner parties for 10+, complete with extensive menus and many bottles of wine consumed. In more recent years, however, it’s been me and the fabulous Lilly boys enjoying a still somewhat elaborate meal and exchanging gifts. … Continue reading What I didn’t get for Christmas.
Category: sick
My drug problem
Even before I watched the excellent “Dopesick,” I had issues with big pharma. Growing up, I was fortunate to be healthy, not a kid who needed much medicine beyond Pepto Bismol and drops for chronic ear infections. The latter, my mother would place on the stove top above the pilot light to heat them up. … Continue reading My drug problem
Patient, I am not…
…at least when it comes to actually being a patient. I’ve been sick for more than 10 days and, quite honestly, I’m struggling. It’s been well established and documented that I tend to live a busy and full life, one that doesn’t readily accommodate more than a week of headaches, fatigue and the most brutal … Continue reading Patient, I am not…
What is remembered lives
I recently started following a new-to-me Instagram account, TheAIDSMemorial. It isn’t that I need reminders to reflect upon those who have been lost to AIDS, but seeing the photos and reading the stories has moved me deeply. Damn, they were so young. As our country faces yet another variant strain of Covid, I can’t help but … Continue reading What is remembered lives
Child care
Thursday was the first day of school for students in my district for the 2021-22 academic year. I prepared for my homeroom of 6th graders on Wednesday, carefully arranging their agenda books, printed schedules and student ids on their socially distanced desks. I was keen to be as organized as possible in hopes to create … Continue reading Child care
Funky cold Moderna
Thursday night I received my second Covid vaccine. That makes me part of less than 15% of the entire U.S. population, a cohort I feel very fortunate in which to belong. Joining that club wasn’t easy - scoring an appointment wasn’t without challenge and the initiation came with some real negative consequences. While I wouldn’t want … Continue reading Funky cold Moderna
Never forget – World AIDS Day, 2020
I don’t know about you, but I certainly never imagined surviving two pandemics in fifty some odd years. As Covid-19 rages in a country often more committed to individual rights to not wear a mask than to preserving health, it almost feels quaint to reflect back on the first pandemic I witnessed - the AIDS … Continue reading Never forget – World AIDS Day, 2020