Category: Death and Dying

#strength, Death and Dying, Friends and Family, My Tribe

Everything Everywhere All at Once

riseagainstals

I saw my best friend alive for the last time 1 month ago yesterday. By 10:00 the next morning, she was gone, and our lives would be turned upside down even more so than they had been just 15 days before when we’d lost another close friend, Vicky, to metastatic breast cancer. Our friend group… Continue reading Everything Everywhere All at Once

ALS, ALS One, Death and Dying, Loss

I’ve Stepped off the Edge of the World

riseagainstals

I got the call late Friday night that we had lost another ALS warrior. That’s four in 2 years. I am so utterly exhausted from getting these calls and attending these wakes. I’m sad and angry and frustrated and just done with all the loss. No matter how much progress is made, we’re losing too… Continue reading I’ve Stepped off the Edge of the World

ALS, ALS One, Death and Dying, Loss

Ruminations on the Nature of Things

riseagainstals

Breathe in… I’ve been plagued with a terrible sense of urgency lately. The past few days have found me in marathon writing sessions, desperate to get it all down, to get it all out. So here I am in my 40th hour of consciousness, drinking chilled pinot grigio and ruminating over this post that I’ve… Continue reading Ruminations on the Nature of Things

Death and Dying, Family, Loss

Jimmy Kimmel, Coconuts, and Bird on a Crucifix: 6 Days of Living and Dying

riseagainstals

My father died at 2:56 PM on November 6 after an amazingly courageous two-and-a-half-year battle with pancreatic cancer. The following recounts the last 6 days of his life and the ensuing 4 weeks of my coming to terms with his death and…I don’t know, lots of other stuff. It goes deep and it’s pretty long,… Continue reading Jimmy Kimmel, Coconuts, and Bird on a Crucifix: 6 Days of Living and Dying