“Pokey, I’m back!” I called out as I returned from shopping. I staggered backward as Pokey assaulted me — slurp! slurp! slurp! — in an effort to jump on my shoulder and lick my face. Placing my shopping bags on the nearest table, I accompany Pokey to the couch and…
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“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” — Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV) “When you are up to your arse in alligators, it’s difficult to remember…
“But I’m leavin’ on a jet plane/ Don’t know when I’ll be back again.” — John Denver That song was running through my mind the other day. “Zip!” I jimmied open the zipper of my carry-on to throw in my essentials for the next several days. It was time to…
“I’m going to prescribe Rituxan [rituximab] for you,” the doctor said. I immediately envisioned myself losing all of my hair. I had no idea what to expect, nor did I understand anything about my diagnosis of cold agglutinin disease (CAD). I learned soon enough, though. Over the…
In May 2018, I entered the unknown “jungle” of a cold agglutinin disease (CAD), accompanied by what my doctor calls chronic lymphocytic lymphoma. CAD is a rare disease, and in April 2018, I had no understanding of it. Sadly, most people, including some in the medical profession, also…
I carefully pulled myself out of the sunken bathtub and waited a moment before swinging around to stand up. I gripped the sink next to me, pulled up, and caught my breath. “Whoa!” I thought to myself. “That tired me out. Good thing I don’t have to be at work…
A student was waiting at my desk as I walked into the classroom. I smiled as I dropped my books on the desk and looked at her expectantly. She’d been absent the previous day. “Mrs. Lott, did we do anything while I was gone?” That was a stupid question. My…
I looked to the right and then to the left, searching in vain for landmarks. I had no clue where we were in the water. I was leading a group of divers and had just committed a gross and dangerous error: I had gotten us lost! We swam on the…
Click! It’s time for a routine checkup. I wait a few minutes for the webpage to load, then add the parameters of my proposed travel. Anxiously, I scan the list of available flights and begin my research. I have certain criteria for the booking; paramount is the cost of the…
“Band! A-tennnnn-hut!” I watched for the lift of the drum major’s shoulders because the roar of the crowd — in what’s now called Jordan-Hare Stadium, at Auburn University in Alabama — was too loud for anyone in the clarinet section to hear him count off. I double-time…
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