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This is Between Business Cards
I’m navigating life—one foot stuck in the mud, the other trying to pull free. Like you, I’ve held a lot of roles: sibling, employee, spouse, healthy person and one facing illness. Some of those titles even made it onto my business cards. But life has a way of editing our identities—whether we’re ready or not. Over time, my roles changed. I was divorced. My parents passed. I experienced painful estrangements and major illness. And through it all—showing up, struggling, transitioning—I found unexpected lifelines: family, friends, books, projects and small, quiet gestures that kept me afloat. This isn’t a self-help blog. It’s more of a help-yourself-while-I-stumble-through blog. It’s about the collective…
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Saving Face
The shiny six-inch needle flashed, catching the reflection of harsh overhead lights. Once again, I found myself lying face up on a cold operating room table. Seventh surgery. Several weeks earlier, I visited the plastic surgeon. Escorted from the luxurious reception room, I perched on a leather exam table, legs dangling like a toddler’s. Seven scars engraved my cheeks. My lower eyelid drooped. Melanoma’s revenge. A wall-mounted TV screen scrolled before-and-after patient photos. Images of irregular noses, turkey necks, and bald heads flipped silently every five seconds. No one had scars. At least visible ones. Dr. Q entered briskly. Dressed in black scrubs, he sported a 1000-watt smile and designer…
