Conversations rising from a lifetime trekking the ever-changing world of veterinary medicine
“An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event.” Anniversaries are remembered for all sorts of reasons. And, something I find at this age is that I have quite a collection of …
Read moreIn Reverence to Nonhuman Hospice and Palliative Care
Were it not for a death, these two women’s lives would never have crossed. One had to leave for the other to walk in the door. But, they both changed the course for the generations that came after them. Josephine and Angelina shared what many women of their time shared. They had little control over …
She had a male black cat and a female black lab. I loved her right away because she reminded me of the mom of a kid I grew up with. Did you ever do that? Have a connection right away with someone because somehow the other person reminds you of someone you knew back home. …
It didn’t happen all the time. But it showed up enough. As time went on I started to notice a pattern. Pounding shifts night after night that never seemed to end would bring it on. A particular case in the ICU that went days into weeks could be bruising. Or an all-consuming ventilator case with …
My father really wanted me to be a lawyer. Actually, he wanted me to be a lawyer and a politician. It had been something he dreamt for himself. But the 1940’s and 50’s were a time of working hard for his family. He was lucky to graduate high school. Then, it was on to the …
“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you. Shout aloud, I am glad to be what I am. Thank goodness I’m not a ham, or a clam, or a dusty old jar of gooseberry jam. I am what I am, what a great thing …
I can ruminate over something like a dog worrying a bone. More often than not, that gnawing turns into a story I tell myself. Now in my later years, I’m looking at some of these stories. I’m realizing they might not be honest and true. That’s when I believe I’ve been given an opportunity to …
What do you think happens when idealists get to be elders? I don’t mean ‘el-der-ly’. I mean elders. One of the ways we define humans is by age group. And as our society changes, we seem to modify the profiles around these age groups. Time is such a trickster. I remember when I was in …
Some call it intuition or gut feeling. I call it my “spidey senses” or my “higher self”. I’ve got a hunch; I’ve got a feeling… all those phrases we place on an internal trigger that’s hardwired in us. Primitive humans would use gut feeling as an additional tool to, say, escape being eaten by a …
Joni Mitchell’s influence I believe every woman should promise herself the gift of listening to Joni Mitchell’s Blue album before leaving this earth. Listen at night with the headphones of your choice and play as loud as you can comfortably stand it. Relaxing substances are optional. There was a lot of poignant music that defined …