I visited my friend Trina on the day she passed away nearly 12 years ago. She looked at me fiercely from her hospital bed and said, “I don’t want to die.” Had I not been overwhelmed by the sadness of the moment and the absolute finality of our time together, I might have responded more [...]
My sister Kathy spent the week leading up to her 54th birthday helping my mom and I finalize details for a trip Kathy isn't even taking. She will be driving us to the airport, though, and picking us up, and hosting us the night before our flight. She's basically our personal Uber/Travel Agent/Concierge Service. I [...]
Today marks my sister Kathy’s final day as an educator. She is retiring for health reasons following a 29-year teaching career. She began as an English teacher at Audubon Middle School, and spent the bulk of her career as a Library Media Specialist at Menomonee Falls High School. Truthfully, Kathy probably should have retired years [...]
My sister Kathy has been popping over to the Columbia St. Mary's Water Tower Medical Building every three weeks to receive treatment for the breast cancer she’s been battling since 2013. As is her style, she likes to keep it low key. She and her husband Keith have their routine down – he drops her [...]
We brought our own inspiration to Rochester yesterday, packed her into the passenger seat and enjoyed her chatty commentary. But, had we needed it (and who doesn't?) we would have found inspiration in every corner of Mayo Clinic. You see it on faces, smell it in the fresh air and hear it reverberating through every [...]