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The Silent Treatment
For 58 years, my mother was married to an alcoholic. I suppose in the last five years of his life, he didn’t do much drinking. Because of the dementia. He died in October 2012. Complications from...
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Might I be human, after all?
I was thinking about grief the other day. Thinking my grief over my brother’s and father’s deaths last year didn’t last long. The crying wasn’t overwhelmingly intense. Or at least it wasn’t more than a...
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Get Real
My first year on law review I had to write a comment on an area of law. I chose assisted suicide and whether it should be legal. I researched it from all angles. The slippery slope–we’ll eventually be...
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Right here, right now.
I’ve been avoiding the page for the past two weeks because I haven’t wanted to deal with life head on. The year anniversary of the death of my brother was a couple of weeks ago–March 25. I took the day...
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You can run
Blogging has taken a back seat to my new job. On top of being a lawyer at one of the Top 26 Elite Law Firms (according to a story on Law 360 this morning), I have inherited my father’s business. …...
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Beach Houses and Dog Bowls
Being alive is weird. I’m sure being dead is weird, too. Or maybe not. Maybe your consciousness is dead along with your body and so there’s nothing left of you to witness whether being dead is weird,...
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Gitche Gumee
I just returned from a short trip to my father’s cabin on Lake Superior in Northern Ontario. The last time I was up in August 2011, my father and brothers were still alive. My parents went up every...
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Where the Cat Is
A few weeks ago, I mentioned to a work colleague that my family had made it through an entire year without any calamities. No one had died. No one had any serious health issues. If I were a...
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My Current Reality Bites
I’ve spent the past few days hunkered down, recovering from the holidays. I’ve stayed in bed until nearly noon the past three days, surrounded by cats. My refuge from reality. My trip to Houston was...
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Wanted: One Crystal Ball
I’ve spent father’s day weekend looking at assisted living facilities in Austin for my mother. Currently, she lives in Houston, 150 miles from me, and 3 miles from my sister. Last Friday, her AL called...
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In-Between Christmas
Yesterday was the first Christmas morning I have awakened in my own bed in sixteen years. I had planned to sleep in my parents’ bed in the home they lived in for nearly forty years. No one is living in...
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Mom and Sadie Health Reports
I think my mother has moved into the next phase of dementia. The end phase. Mom has had repeated infections over the past year: multiple urinary tract infections, and more recently, MRSA. The MRSA...
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About My Mother
My mother turned 80 last Saturday. In the weeks and days leading up to her birthday, I held my breath, hoping she would stay healthy enough to attend her birthday party. Each time I spoke with one of...
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To treat or not to treat
On Monday I got the dreaded call from assisted living (AL): mom fell again. She had a big bump on the back of her head. The AL nurse feared her hip was broken. So this time, unlike the last time, …...
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Death by Chocolate
I drove to Houston Mother’s Day weekend for the second (and last) weekend of the estate sale. Mom’s been ill with another infection; one that has hit her especially hard. The new antibiotic, injectable...
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Mom and Her (Damn) Cat
Last Sunday, May 22, mom fell again. This time, despite my attempts to avoid it, she was hospitalized. They ran the usual battery of tests. Not surprisingly, mom had another urinary tract infection....
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The Decider
My mother has Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and as of three weeks ago, a broken hip. Shortly after my father died (coming up on three years ago), she made me her legal decision-maker in all things financial...
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Cat Number Five
Meet Cat Number Five a/k/a Spotty a/k/a the Damn Cat. Spotty came to live with me late in the evening on September 15; the night my mother died. He has settled in quickly and well. I thought I would...
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