I got the call at 10PM. He had acute appendicitis, she said, and was going into surgery immediately. I got into the car and drove. It took me less than two hours, but I fought panic the entire way. It’ll be fine, I thought. It’s common. But the words didn’t comfort me. I feigned calmness while they showed me to his recovery room. He was sleeping, curled around his pooh bear, an IV running…
In November of 2015, I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time. It was something I’d been meaning to do for years, but continually found reasons to put off, and finally decided to step up to. Surprisingly, I not only completed, but exceeded it. Okay, that’s not entirely true. In terms of the word goal for the month, I “won,” but it did take me an additional week or two…
When I hear “do you remember your first…” the first thing that comes to mind is of course the first kiss, or even more racey, loss of virginity. Granted, I tend to focus more on those types of physical things, but there are plenty of other firsts I can think of too. My first time riding a bike. My first day in middle school. My first day in the Marine…
I climb to the top landing of the stairwell, and freeze. A dirty man sits there, surrounded by bandages, wrapping his bleeding leg. “I’m going to need you to leave,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere,” he says, standing and puffing up. I click my radio, “I’ve got one hostile.” “You’re a liar!” He says, threateningly. I pull my baton, stepping back into a defensive stance. He crouches down, parroting…
I’ve always felt that New Year’s resolutions are stupid. I don’t need the event of another year passing, and new, bright future on the horizon, to be my motivation to better myself. However, I do have to scold myself for belittling those who do, since that’s based solely on my own cynicism (which seems to be a theme lately – I’ll have to ponder that some), and not my support…