The boy passed the joint to his grandfather. A bulbous white cloud enveloped them, Locking souls together by generations: Generations walking backwards, Generations drowning under design and democracy, Generations pacing below sea level, Slave ships cresting high above their abandoned spirits. The Elder’s gray eyes dared look to the boy, A solitary moment imprisoned between ...

We all deal with grief differently. My little sister reads sad quotes on Pinterest that express how she feels better than she can. My brother doesn’t like to get out at the cemetery because it makes Dad’s death real. I write and publish my reflections on grief for strangers to read. Writing about it is ...

It is no secret that cancer effectively ruined my life in April 2016. Family and friends know that the battle with cancer started almost nine months before my dad died. I noticed that something was wrong in July 2015, when we went on a family trip to Tennessee. It was a good trip and we ...

October 10, 2015 Sunday mornings in October meant getting up early to work at the Hilti Ballfields. Dad served as the head groundskeeper there, making sure that the fields were in order for the little league games. He hired my siblings and I to walk the fields an hour before dawn to pick up the ...

Winter is here, and, like it or not, so are the holidays that I try my best not to think about the rest of the year. This will be my third fatherless Christmas season. I think missing him gets hardest on November 1st and stays that way until December 26th. The only thing worse than ...

Dear 17-year-old Jordan, I won’t ask how you’re doing right now. 16 was an awkward year for us, so I already know the answer. I know that it seems like life is out to get you. I wish I could promise that the next four years are so much easier. I can’t. But I can ...

It’s easy for someone to forget that I’m not okay. I am good at putting on the ‘okay’ face and pretending that my heart isn’t still horribly mangled from losing my dad. It isn’t something I bring up meeting new people because I don’t want to be the “sad kid.” When someone makes an insensitive ...

I know that being a doctor cannot be easy. Almost every day, you make choices that will have a lasting impact on the lives of patients and their families. When operating, their lives are in your hands. One mistake can end a life as quickly as the answer can save one. I respect what you ...

I am a writer. I make lists for everything: grocery trips, summer plans, story-planning, things I want to try. My bucket list, the things I want to do one day before I die, is the longest list I keep. I’ll bet that is true for most normal people. However, I have another list I keep. ...

In Honor of Chuck Ballard 1972-2016 April 6, 2016. Saint Francis Hospital. Day 3: My daddy’s fight against colorectal cancer came to an end that night, in a white hospital room surrounded by the people who loved him most. We’d known that it was coming for three days and we still weren’t ready. I’d been sitting beside his ...