I’m Not Suicidal, I Just Forgot to Brush My Hair

September is Suicide Prevention Month. Among other causes, I am in awe of the people on the front lines of this tragic phenomenon. I remember meeting a suicide prevention call center volunteer. She was a wreck, thin and pale. Vicarious suffering was taking such a...

Activist with Chronic Illness

Amy Carmichael was born 100 years before me. She was an activist in every sense. She established an orphanage to rescue children in India. Some of the children were trafficking victims or those who were at risk to be prostituted in the temples for the...

Is there Life Off-Line?

My time is often spent online on my laptop computer. Chronic illness relegates many of us to life here, but I often seek life off-line. I had all but forgotten what it was like to sweep off my front steps. They get the morning sun...

I’m fine –it’s just pain

How Are YOU? We smile and nod when people ask us how we are. If you are like a lot of people with chronic or neurological Lyme Disease, the thought of answering the question conjures up no end to excuses to answer with a polite,...

New Year, New You

At this time of year, we read, “New Year, New You!” often. Gym memberships, fitness clubs, diet plans, business gurus… You name it, and someone will be selling it as a fresh start opportunity. New Year, New You Some surveys indicate that about 80-90% of...

Schedule It

If you or someone you know has Lyme, there is no question in your mind about how important rest is. The problem is, when we feel well enough to do anything, we want to ‘ride the wave’. The energy is flowing and the goal is...

Hold’em Close

We are living in crazy times. We never know what our end will be here on earth. It could be a freak accident, like a pig roaster falling off the back of a truck that hits us while driving the opposite direction. Or it could be...

My Grandma Gave Me a Bible

My mother’s second husband adopted my sister and me. His mother gave me a Bible. I don’t remember going to church at that age, though I did. The only church I remembered was the Catholic church that my abusers took me to as a toddler....

Profits and Losses

As I sat in my living room, engaging in a bit of a pity party for myself, I tried to be objective about 2015. It was a devastating year. I felt like my life would end almost every day. Despite how I felt, I had...

Out of Sorts?

Christmas is almost here and for many people that is enough of a deadline. For many people it is the week after that causes the anxiety. Closing business for the year, pulling in all the receipts, completing bookkeeping audits, and chasing those last few leads causes...