Tag: chronic illness
-
The Things People Don’t See
People see me back at work, eating again and getting my life back. What they don’t see is the depression, the fear, the 25 pounds gained in one month, or the handfuls of hair I’m losing. Three days. That’s all the hair in these pictures represents. I’m recovering physically, but emotionally, there are parts of…
-
What You Cannot See
There is a strange loneliness in looking like yourself while quietly losing the ability to live like yourself. I have spent years learning how to push through a body that doesn’t always cooperate, but lately I can feel those reserves running out. This is the part of illness you cannot see from the outside, the…
-
Three hours until takeoff
Three hours before I was supposed to leave for the airport, I was sitting in an emergency room listening to a doctor explain why I shouldn’t get on the plane. My heart sank as I realized I had to choose between the safest decision and a dream I’d carried for years.
-
The Weight of Wonder
Two nights before leaving for the Pacific Northwest, I find myself surrounded by wrinkled itinerary pages, hiking gear, and a dream I’ve carried for nearly half my life. What begins as a story about planning slowly becomes something much deeper: learning that simply standing in the place you’ve longed for can matter more than finishing…
