• Life Lessons

    The Day I wished I was Invisible

    I’d never seen such a thing. A thick white snowy blanket enveloped the city. The temperature was so low that Lake Michigan had frozen over and appeared to rise above the ground. “Please come with me,” he pleaded. “This is a decision we’re both making!” “But the news says people should not leave their homes unless it’s totally necessary and you know how much I hate the cold!” I responded. My husband had just graduated from medical school and training for a specialty was the next step, which also meant we had to move far away from our country and our families. The third of several interviews for medical residency…

  • Life Lessons

    The Day I Wanted to Disappear

    I’d never seen such a thing. A thick white snowy blanket enveloped the city. The temperature was so low that Lake Michigan had frozen over and appeared to rise above the ground. “Please come with me,” he pleaded. “This is a decision we’re both making!” “But the news says people should not leave their homes unless it’s totally necessary and you know how much I hate the cold!” I responded. My husband had just graduated from medical school and training for a specialty was the next step, which also meant we had to move far away from our country and our families. The third of several interviews for medical residency…

  • Life Lessons

    The Longest Day of my Life

    “You need to come back for additional testing…” The words on that page hit my heart like daggers. It was a letter from the doctor’s office that offered no further explanation. I called the number as quickly as my fingers could push the buttons on my phone and got a recording. I left a message hoping for a quick response. Questions popped in my mind like thought bubbles over cartoon characters. What if it’s something bad? What if I die? Is it something I’m eating? What will happen to my children? My mind raced to all the people I knew who were fighting the battling with cancer or had already…

  • Life Lessons

    The Other Side of Medicine

    Doctors train for many years to treat and cure people. They thrive from watching patients get well and spend most of their adult lives pouring their time and energy for the welfare of others. As the wife of a doctor, I am on the other side of medicine, the family side. I lived through the sleepless nights and the never-ending days of training. Throughout many years I’ve experience waking up in the middle of the night to the ear-piercing sound of a pager, or the incessant ringing of the phone. I listen to his concerns about patients and witness his headaches after night shifts.  He’s rarely present at school activities…