Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
To-do list: write publish a blog post shower and dress strip the bed and remake vacuum and dust bedroom put away groceries from yesterday prep veggies for cooking make vegetable curry make red lentil kale soup make spicy tomato chick pea soup put away clothes from laundry Reality: slept late wrote and published blog post […]
Read MoreFrankenstein legs, I call them, these long, slender appendages once a treasured asset, now stiff and unpredictable. Hunchbacked is my stance thanks to weakened back muscles. Cruella de Vil has nothing on me, my formerly auburn waves salt and pepper with a shock of white at the front. And when I speak there is hesitation […]
Read MoreNeeds, it seems, are an important ingredient in any healthy relationship. I’ve been listening to Esther Perel’s podcast: Where Should We Begin? and in almost every couple’s counselling session she records, needs come up. “I’ve never been any good at identifying my needs,” I tell my therapist in a recent session. “In fact, from an […]
Read More“How do you feel about everything that is happening?” my therapist asked me, last visit. “Good,” I responded, without hesitation. “I feel as if I’m breaking down barriers: embracing life and possibility, despite my illness.” Yesterday, I promised to rest, but there were boxes in the way, and nowhere to sit, so I unpacked one, […]
Read MoreThe house creaks and cracks with such ferociousness, I am unable to sleep. Perhaps it does not like the starkness of bare walls, the absence of furniture, the finality of boxes stacked and sealed. It is my last night here – just myself, a king sized bed and a complaining house. So much has changed […]
Read More“Was I right about the doctor?” the middle-aged receptionist asked cheerfully as I emerged from the examination room and waited for my next appointment. “He’s very good,” I agreed. I had hesitated to see one more specialist after a history of dead ends trying to get a diagnosis for what was clearly something wrong with […]
Read MoreThe floor reached out for me, pulling me down with alarming force. I fought to remain upright, waves of nausea weakening my resolve. One hand flew to my brow – now a pool of sweat – while the other searched for the phone. I’m calling 9-1-1, I texted my husband. “Stay with us, V.J.!” the […]
Read MoreThe house is sold. We have less than thirty days to clear out, which considering we are moving into our motor home, means to get rid of everything. It’s a year ahead of schedule, I admit, but given the hot real estate market, I agreed to list the house for a month and see if […]
Read MorePain. I push against it. Challenge it, like a warrior intent on proving that I am indestructible, unwilling to flinch. If I ignore it, I tell myself, then it will cease to have power over me. Except, bit by bit it gnaws at my edges, tearing me down and just as I’m about to succumb […]
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“I’ll cover the lying down!” I tell the two strangers, who have just entered my bedroom assessing what needs to be moved. “Good idea!” the tall, lanky one named Josh answers. The outside air is heavy with the threat of a downpour. Inside I pull a blanket over my prone body. I hear the grunts […]
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One Woman's Quest II 