For as far back as I can remember, I’ve loved words. I love the sounds, the way a word can slip from my tongue like cool water thru a stream or the jagged way it might flow like rocks along a riverbed. I love the way a single word can change a story or a life for it is a well-chosen word that will stay with us forever, something I learned long ago.
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Embrace The Ordinary
May 30, 2013 by
It’s that season again — the season of graduation and change, the season of lofty dreams and loftier still commencement speeches. For most of us, the sweetest words we can hear at commencement are — “I’ll keep this short.” But, more often than not, the speeches are grand appeals to the graduates to reach for the stars, to find their special bliss, to write a bestseller, to change the world. And off we go only to be disappointed by the ordinariness of our lives. But it is that very ordinariness that we should embrace and even celebrate.
Inside The ER
May 5, 2013 by
Monday, April 15th, the Patriots Day holiday in Boston, dawned clear and cool, a perfect spring day. The ER at the Boston Medical Center (BMC) hummed with activity – headaches, and chest pain and the wounds and complaints of everyday life. With Boston’s marathon winding down, ER staff were ready for runners with dehydration and sprains, and the rare cardiac arrest. An average day if ever there was one.
My Favorite Christmas Gift
December 20, 2012 by
Wishes really can come true, and that is never more evident than in the season of Christmas, perhaps the sweetest season of the year. For so many of us, Christmas is a season of evocative scents – of cinnamon and pine trees and roasting chestnuts, and treats for our senses – a feast for our eyes in the dazzling lights and decorations, and for our ears – the sounds of children laughing, music playing, a hum of happiness that permeates the season. A holiday for dreaming and remembering…
Thanksgiving
November 21, 2012 by
Thanksgiving – my favorite holiday, a day devoted to food, family, friends and gratitude, a day that reminds me of just how much I have in life – my family and friends, my health, my job, the release of my second novel. I am lucky beyond words, and reflecting that, my list of thanks is endless.
A Young Girls’s Courage
October 14, 2012 by
Last week in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai, a fourteen year old girl, was shot in the head by the Taliban, those evil purveyors of madness. They accused her of “promoting western culture,” which to the Taliban means not rock music or miniskirts, though they despise those things, but education. Malala was targeted only because she dared to stand up for a girl’s right to education.
Best Summer Reading Picks
July 10, 2012 by
Is there anything better than a book that keeps you up all night? And in summer, a good book is a necessity. The books listed here will keep you begging for more. I’m reading through the list as well and loving these novels!
SERENDIPITY
May 28, 2012 by
I’ve written about inspiration before, about finding it everywhere, often in the last place you’d expect and that was especially true for me last Friday evening. As I drove home from work, my radio on full blast, the air conditioning humming away, I sat mired in heavy highway traffic but happily preoccupied with the noise of my own thoughts, and the clatter of sounds in my own car. I was deaf to the world beyond my small space until the stream of slowly moving traffic suddenly stopped, and my attention was abruptly forced to the road ahead. I could see that just 4 cars ahead of me, the cars had inexplicably come to a complete standstill. I craned my neck to see but the road just beyond the now stalled traffic seemed free and clear, no accidents visible, no debris, no wailing sirens, nothing to explain our sudden halt. I moaned to myself at the unexpected delay. All 4 lanes, filled with rush-hour traffic, were at a dead-stop, and all of us peered intently through the glare of our sun-streaked windshields trying to unravel the mystery. Finally, the cars ahead of me edged slowly to the barriers at the side of the road and moved beyond whatever had stopped us. As my turn came, and I moved ahead, I spied a car sitting sideways and straddling 2 lanes, and a banged-up motorcycle lying in the road. I glanced about quickly. Had this accident been here for a while, I wondered. And then I saw him, a man lying in the road. With a growing realization that there had just been a terrible accident, I guided my car in front of the motorcycle and jumped out to help. I’m a nurse, an ED nurse at that, and it seemed the only possible response. Only 1 man, another motorcyclist was there. I quickly ascertained that the injured man was not only stable but ready to get up and leave. My only job would be to convince the young victim to stay and wait for assistance. His friend had already called 911, but with the now hopelessly snarled traffic, there would most certainly be a delay in the arrival of help. It wasn’t long before an off-duty policeman stopped and set up a perimeter and began to direct traffic, and when the ambulance finally arrived, I was no longer needed, and I left for home, the events of the last half hour ringing in my mind.
Celebrate Nurses
May 9, 2012 by
Nurses
It’s been four months since I last blogged and while I write a new one, I thought I’d re-do this one from last year.
