“You’ll need someone present during the entire surgery, which can last three to four hours, just in case end-of-life decisions need to be made on your behalf.” I looked up from the information packet I was skimming. The words shocked me momentarily. End-of-life decisions. I hadn’t thought about that term…
Grief is like an ocean. It’s cold and shocking when you first get in the water. Then the waves are constantly breaking and hitting you in the shallows, each one signifying sadness and emotions washing over you, whether or not you’re prepared for it. Once you get deeper, your body…
As the garage door opens, cold air pours in, creeping into my joints and bending my limbs. I step onto the driveway and am hit with a breeze that freezes me even more. Winter is here, and it will be like this for the next few months. I’ve always loved…
I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. My insides felt as if an angry lava monster had its hot hands gripping and squeezing all within my torso. I was in so much pain that I was shivering. But my nurse assured me that this reaction was probably normal, given the spinal…
It all started with me collapsing onto the hard, cool concrete outside of an emergency room (ER), as I was too weak to step up 4 inches onto the sidewalk. I know I must’ve been a wild sight — a thinning version of myself covered in huge purple and black…
My eyes scanned the makeshift ramp that volunteers had made from a section of collapsed roof. I was hesitant to climb it to get into the trailer, which had a floor more than 4 feet above the ground. “At least the shingles will give my shoes a good grip,” I…
My left eye throbbed to the beat of my heart. Each pulse seemed more intense than the last. I’d had this headache off and on for over two months, but my then-new job had me waking up at 4:30 a.m. — definitely earlier than my normal — so I chalked…
My parents went missing in western North Carolina on Sept. 27, the day after Hurricane Helene made landfall, dumping months worth of rain in just a few days. The flooding and destruction were widespread and catastrophic. At my parents’ home, the water level reached about 8 feet. And on Tuesday,…
As I’m writing this column on Tuesday, Oct. 1, I’m relatively safe from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s battering here in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is in a fairly central part of the state. But I can just picture what it was like for residents to the west of…
My mouth all but watered at the thought of a crisp, cool drink, the sound of ice swirling in a cup as a drop of condensation trickles down the side. I envisioned the first sip flooding my mouth with a burst of sweet fruity flavors. On this day, I was…
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