Archive for December 24, 2016

Archive

The Gift We Never Knew We Needed

It’s Christmas Eve in my parents’ house. My brother and I have descended upon their space with our spouses and children; with suitcases, bags, and toys; from baby bottles to teenage ambivalence, we are all hunkered down in the warmth of their home, taking turns in the bathroom and bumping into each other in the kitchen. As per tradition, we have a meal and go to church together on Christmas Eve, at the church where we grew up. And sometime...

Breathe With Me

The elderly woman we had been taking care of in the ICU looked younger than her stated age. But her medical history on paper was more consistent with her 79 years…the heart failure, the diabetes, the chronic lung disease. She managed to fight for three days before the exhaustion from the work of her breathing overcame her and she had to have a breathing tube placed. She spent the first night anxious and breathing rapidly. She sent her heart rate...