Stories Told. Lives Changed.
My 10 year old daughter, Haley, looks up from her iPad, sighs, and asks, “Dad, why does summer go so fast?” I laugh and say, ” Sweetie, I’ve been try to figure that out my whole life.” Maybe I’m getting older, but summer seems to pass quicker each year. If you’re like me, you started […]
Maybe it was a slip of the tongue. But when my wife was talking to a friend about my recent health troubles she explained that “we” had a flare up. The “we” was me. And it occurred to me that my wife was dealing with my troubles as much as I was. When we’re sick […]
Right now I need time to heal. The last three days I have been sick–suffering from dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. I tell you this because I’m 52 training sessions into my quest to get physically fit and I’m frustrated. I want to train but, I know, right now rest trumps activity. But such is life, […]
Society has conditioned men to dismiss any and all vulnerabilities. Since men identify vulnerability as a weakness, they often don’t possess the emotional strength to talk about their weaknesses. Male behavior that follows this script appeases societal expectations but how does this silence affect the individual male? The male who returns home from war. The […]
If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.–Marcus Aurelius I saw my neurologist today. After reviewing a recent MRI of my brain, he informed me that the deterioration that plagued […]
The following post is part of the The January Project: Chronic Illness. A month long project where I research and write about chronic illness. The information presented in this project is intended for educational purposes only. I am not a doctor. I am a teacher and writer who, while being afflicted with two chronic illnesses, is trying […]
The following post is part of the The January Project: Chronic Illness. A month long project where I research and write about chronic illness. The information presented in this project is intended for educational purposes only. I am not a doctor. I am a teacher and writer who, while being afflicted with two chronic illnesses, is trying […]
Almost four months ago I adopted a veganish diet hoping that it would relieve my chronic pain and lessen my steroid dependency. So far, it has. The workings of my new diet also stirred hearty conversation around the Thanksgiving dinner table when people realized my plate was void of turkey. So here are 13 questions […]
“Everything dies, baby that’s a fact But maybe everything that dies some day comes back. Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty And meet me tonight in Atlantic City.” Bruce Springsteen, Atlantic City Last Friday I made the 60 mile pilgrimage from Philadelphia to the Atlantic City, New Jersey to present my writing workshop […]
After a three year fight with the infamous steroid Prednisone — I’m proudly standing in the middle of the ring and raising my arms in victory. In July of 2014 my rheumatologist prescribed a moderately high daily dosage of 35 milligrams of Prednisone to relieve my chronic inflammation and joint pain caused by the autoimmune disorder — sarcoidosis. The […]