From the category archives:
An NPR segment profiled a doctor who is afflicted with MS. She is still able to consult and teach medical students, teaching them about compassion and the art of listening. One of her mantras is: Place your hand on the patient, not on the door knob. She was referring to the habit of rushed doctors [...]
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Morning is a blessed time for our household. When I rise, I come to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee, mixed with soy milk. Dad is sitting at the kitchen table, meditating in the dark kitchen. Lymphoma saps his energy, so mornings are the best times for Dad. I don’t bother him during [...]
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I’m reading the book “Fierce Conversations” now. The author advocates following a life of integrity and truth. The author explains that the book is not about learning how to confront and intimidate everyone in your sphere. Rather, she cites the synonyms for the word fierce, “…robust, intense, strong, powerful, passionate, eater, unbridled, uncurbed, untamed. In [...]
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When it became clear that I probably would not be able to have children, my life and house seemed empty. My little apartment felt empty, and my arms ached to hold a baby. There seemed to be an incredible chasm between my life and my friends, who were deep in the trenches of parenting. Then [...]
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I often visit a couple who live in downtown Tempe. The hubbie keeps a luch garden in the backyard that he will show off proudly to all visitors. On my last visit, they pointed to a pile of lumber in the back yard corner, tucked behind the compost bin. Bees were streaming in and out [...]
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The following was an essay I submitted to the CVS For All the Ways You Care project: Mom has always had a talent for taking care of the sick and elderly. She worked in nursing homes for 20 years, and cared for her “little old ladies” with gentle respect. Her reassuring presence had an healing [...]
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Last weekend, an International Film Festival on Aging was held in the Bay area in California. It sounds like a great idea — I hope it will be replicated around the country. This was the first festival like this. The festival organizers explained the mission of the event on the web site. A curator explained, [...]
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A bucket list has a wonderful, clarifying effect on your life. By writing a list of things you want to do before dying (ie: Kicking the Bucket), life seems to open up with lots of possibilities. It doesn’t matter if I’ll ever do these items or not. Creating the list made me feel like a [...]
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The angel of God came back, shook him awake again, and said, “Get up and eat some more—you’ve got a long journey ahead of you.” – 1 Kings 19 Elijah, a servant of God, flees is sent out into the wilderness without any provisions of water or food. The servant struggles to survive in the [...]
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But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing…. St. Paul I am haunted by the idea of a home — a true home. The haunting stems from the nagging feeling that my new house — a newly constructed subdivision home in a Phoenix suburb — was not a real home. Finally, after two years [...]
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