Focus

September 17, 2025.Reading time 1 minute.

We measure our days by appointments – his and mine. At a recent appointment, the doctor asks me if I’m prepared to do more tests or need a break. I appreciate his empathy but decide to go ahead with testing. Soon Winter will be upon us and getting around will be difficult. Maybe in Winter, […]

Self-Isolating

July 2, 2025.Reading time 2 minutes.

“It’s like COVID all over again,” my daughter remarks. She’s right, of course, except I’m the only one isolating. After two rounds of bugs and an infection, I have chosen to stay away from others in an attempt to give my immune system a break. Besides, I have a procedure in ten days for which […]

Chronic Illness vs Depression

May 14, 2025.Reading time 2 minutes.

“How do I know if I am depressed or it’s just the exhaustion of ME?” I asked my therapist in the early days of being bedridden with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. “It’s simple,” she answered. “With depression, you lose interest in the things you usually love, so you don’t bother. With chronic illness, you want to engage, […]

To Shift or Not to Shift

January 1, 2025.Reading time 1 minute.

During our last visit, the doctor prescribed a new medication to manage migraines. We discussed not starting it until I was cleared of other issues that I was facing at the time. Turned out, I was able to start the medication on Christmas day. Fast forward a few days and I notice no signs of […]

Packing

August 21, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

We’ve decided, after five years of being homebodies, to try travelling again. He’s making reservations, while I make to-do lists and try to decide what to pack. Excited by the possibility, he draws up ambitious itineraries, and I’m feeling reality close in. What won’t fit into any suitcase, I gently remind him, is the promise […]

A Rocky Path

March 27, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

When health takes a hit, the road ahead becomes littered with unknowns. After months of waiting, I finally got in to see a neurologist. Actually, the call came on the very day I was about to tell my doctor to cancel the referral. For ten years I have lived with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Diagnosed, that is. […]

Santa’s on His Way?

November 17, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I created this piece a week ago. Weather was turning, and I got inspired to make lists, and then, wham….Ric and I tested positive for COVID. Damn! The doctor immediately prescribed Paxlovid with a warning that it would cause a terrible taste in my mouth (it does) and likely affect my gastrointestinal system. No joke […]

Not a Chance, Lady

July 10, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

I decided to ignore the tugging signs and drive the car the short distance to the river. The day was overcast, so I reasoned that the light would not bother my eyes. Some things are not meant to be. Lifting my camera to shoot the heron lingering in the shallows, I realized that my right […]

Re-emergence

June 11, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

Hard to pinpoint when it all started. Was it the night before, when I pushed myself to finish that knitting project even though my eyes were so blurry that I had to feel my way through? Was it the day before, when I noticed that my breathing was compromised? I do know that I awoke […]

Chronic Illness

November 30, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The River

There’s a river runs between us,you and I.Our thoughts, like tears, are liquidcarried effortlessly by the current. But you and I,we stand on the banks, oblivious;ignoring the connection,proudly touting our individualism. Still the river flows,and all you’ve suffered,and all I’ve suffered,or dreamed, or imagined, or hoped,flows with it. Step into the water with me,feel our […]

Flock

Blossoming

It may be foolish of me, at my age and in my current condition, but I hang on to the hope that the pain of this effort is leading somewhere: renewal, new purpose, or at the very least, a blossoming.