My brother’s
skin cancer diagnosis came as a rude shock to him, like the splintering
light of day on emergence from a subterranean transit station.
The edges of reality sharpened. Angles became more acute to the
point of cutting. The truth of his life stared him down like an
outraged panhandler. What are my priorities? How is my relationship
with my children? What is my capacity for joy? For giving? Thanks
to early detection, my brother’s cancer was quickly removed
and has not reappeared. To simplify their lives, his family moved
where his wife holds Native American sweat meetings and he celebrates
a less mechanical routine.
-- Dave Alber
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