Thoughts

I've been taught that stories work in predictable patterns. You have your exposition, where the characters and setting are introduced; the rising action, in which suspense begins to "rise" as the central conflict develops; the climax, often the moment of greatest emotional intensity and in which the outcome of the conflict is decided; and the resolution, in which all remaining subplot conflicts are resolved. There is some climax looming, expressed in an undercurrent of hopefulness at prospective change. Change. It's a word both frightens and encourages me. It's a word that, to me, means losing the financial and social stability of a job in which I've worked for nearly five and a half years and taking a position that pays less and which promises only hope. Hope. It's something I felt very strongly after the trip to Haiti, but life has somewhat eroded that sense of awe I felt. I knew that would happen, but I feel it will return as a second Haiti trip l...

Each member of our clinical medical assistant class was required to choose a cancer and discuss it in a presentation. I chose leukemia, and here is what I found. Leukemia Defined Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow, blood, and the lymphatic system in general (a drainage system that removes excess fluid from the space between the body’s tissues). There are four major forms of leukemia, named for the type of cell affected (myeloid or lymphoid cell), and for the speed at which it develops (1). 1. acute myeloid leukemia (AML)* 2. acute lymphoblastic leukemia 3. chronic myeloid leukemia 4. chronic lymphocytic leukemia Founders Dr. John Hughes Bennett is credited as first diagnosing leukemia as a blood disease in 1845, although Alfred Velpeau (1827) and Alfred Donne (1844) described the disease before him. Bennett called the disease leucocythaemia. Description Leukemia occurs when the DNA inside normal blood cells mutates, causing the cells to develop and di...

This is what happens when dozens of junior high school students gather to host a yard sale: 1. One dresses up in a yellow full-body suit to draw customers. 2. Another pleads with the teacher to allow him to take care of a doll over the weekend, solemn with the weight of his responsibility as a new parent. 3. Said student breaks the head off of said doll within five minutes of taking it. 4. Some gather at a small Disney princess table to play "B.S." 5. More people come (and buy) than was expected, earning a lot to help send students to a leadership conference. 6. A teacher observes the generosity of both parents and student, as the former brought Subway for the entire group, and the latter paid far more than was needed for a few stuffed animals. 7. A small community comes together again for the purpose of kids. 8. God answers prayer.

Beauty found in matchless form When dancers train their grace Can lack the thrust of inner storm That moves men from their place Instead it invites cool applause From those who know us not For never will it give them pause To take in what was taught But those who waltz authentic stride, Though lacking perfect frame, Will aid their fellow men inside To dance there none the same While perfect steps may leave one awed, They seldom birth a shift But fear’s bold-spoken promenade Can yield a matchless gift.

The idea here is that someone learns in time not only that other people have needs, but that by giving of yourself, you learn that you find new life as well. Sitting there in morning’s night Warmed by a coat of feigned projection Man basks beneath his self-made light And reads alone for self-protection As noonday nears light peeks its head To penetrate this blackest world Allowing man to peek outside And find it walked by other men And suddenly he feels alone But again he sits upon his throne When evening comes light’s pouring through But still it’s cold inside his home And still he wears his thickened coat And still he sits and reads alone Then night appears A night that calls A night that bleeds effusive light Sunning men outside in cold Outside in worthless, bitter cold He peeks outside to greater need But turns again to see his chair To see his chair that calls him there And all the self-made light and books And all the ...