Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Yours truly ventured out to an open mic, with the support of two of dear friends. Despite how unwell I was feeling, my companions arranged for me to read my poems before I could retreat. This was only my second visit to an open mic poetry session, and I decided to read a personal […]
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In dreams, I walk, no concern for the distance. I ride a bicycle, or drive a car. I move with purpose and direction… …until lucidity snaps me back to reality and then I plummet into the despair of knowing these are no longer options for me. In dreams, I confront life’s issues, face my foes, […]
Read MoreSpas are meant to be luxurious: relaxation sublime. My daughter planned on it when she booked us into a top-rated facility for a morning of pampering. My daughter doesn’t have mobility issues. It wasn’t her inner bitch that threatened to spoil the day. Should have known there’d be a problem by the absence of handicapped […]
Read MoreI dream that I am teaching again, have two classes: a grade 9 Math first thing in the morning and a senior History last period. I am late, so someone else has to start the Math class, and when I do arrive, I am unprepared and uncertain that I can proceed. Last class is more […]
Read MoreSleeping in was a sin in my father’s eyes. Even as a teenager, no matter how late we’d been out the night before, if we weren’t up with the sun, Dad would treat us to an icy face wash. The early bird catches the worm! Laziness was not tolerated either. If we were ever caught […]
Read MoreME/CFS is a mean mistress, whose sole purpose is to keep me down. She is a dominatrix thriving on my submission, wielding her whip with heartlessness, and when she tires of the lashes – has me wincing in pain – she tosses the whip in my direction, tauntingly daring me to defend myself, knowing full well that […]
Read More“How are you?” my friend asked me the other morning – an innocuous enough question, if the recipient is not suffering from chronic illness. Apart from the odd text here and there, I hadn’t talked to this friend for months, so I answered a pat: “Better.” I had really called her because I knew she […]
Read MoreA week after my husband completed thirty-five rounds of radiation for Stage III Prostate cancer, and a year to the date that I learned surgery to remove cancerous tissues from my breast was successful, Ric fell down a flight of steps rupturing his quad tendon. Ten weeks after surgery, he would fall again, causing further […]
Read MoreLiving with ME/CFS is often a matter of trial and error – the line between what the body is capable of and overexertion is never quite definable, except in the aftermath. Yesterday, I accompanied my daughter to Costco, which was teeming with cars and people. We found a parking spot close to the entrance, and […]
Read MoreHesitantly, I turn the key in the lock and push the door ajar. A waft of warm, stale air accosts me. “Hello?” I’d been told there might not be a response. Something is resting against the door, so I push harder to let myself in. The beam from the light of the open doorway is […]
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One Woman's Quest II 