Brain and Spinal Tumors

Bright and early Saturday morning, Tracy, Dad, and I ate a morose breakfast of cold cereal before climbing into the car. We rode in tense silence to the hospital, Tracy drumming her fingers on her knee the entire time. When we got there, we hurried across the parking lot—Tracy and I jogging to keep up [...]

When I first started dating my husband Luke, I covered my mouth anytime joy tried to sneak out of its corners. This was something I didn’t realize I had learned to do over the years. But Luke caught onto it right away. A few weeks into knowing each other, I received the first-ever coveted “Goodnight, [...]

The Latin phrase “civis romanus sum” (classical Latin: “I am (a) Roman citizen”) is a phrase used in Cicero’s “In Verrem” as a plea for the legal rights of a Roman citizen. When traveling across the Roman Empire, safety was said to be guaranteed to anyone who declared, “civis romanus sum.” On June 29 of [...]

“The body keeps score,” my therapist says, her eyeglasses reflecting the blue light from her laptop as she types, “even if the brain doesn’t know it.” I squirm uncomfortably on the small, beige couch. In my head, I consider how ironic this is. The way I have conditioned myself to crave the condition and routine [...]