Category Global health and disparities

FMM 3 13 20 Virus Ignoramus

“Vows made in storms are forgotten in calm.” ~ Thomas Fuller.  I have one very clear memory of nursing during the early days of the AIDS epidemic.  A young man had developed a collapsed lung, which required the insertion of a tube into his chest wall to suck the air out of the pleural space […]

FMM 2 28 20 Perfect Balance

“To him who is in fear everything rustles.” ~ Sophocles. I have always been fascinated by my dreams.  I still have a clear memory of a dream I had as a child.  I was in a forest where all of the trees were ghostly white.  There may have been animals like statues, also white. The […]

FMM 2 14 20 Sing me a Song

“My music had roots which I’d dug up from my own childhood, musical roots buried in the darkest soil.” ~ Ray Charles. The road trips of my early childhood included many a song.  My family had a repertoire of songs which distracted and entertained on the long journey which would take us from the city […]

FMM 2 7 2020 An Age-old dilemma

“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” ~ Henry David Thoreau.  My father Pearce was a picky eater.  I don’t know when it began, but definitely by the time I was a teen I was aware of it.  In restaurants he would stick to what he knew.  The most adventurous he would […]

FMM 1 31 2020 Color your Perspective

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” ~ Elie Wiesel. This is my story, condensed, abridged, minimized, retold.  Picture an almost eight-year-old white girl (blonde hair, blue eyes) transplanted from grey rainy Manchester along with her entire family and […]

FMM 1 10 20 Traveling Mercies

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” ~ Lao Tzu.  My first time in Key West, over 40 years ago, was a trip of revelation.  I was already having a hard time adjusting to the America of Miami: large cars, huge straight roads, flashing neon lights advertising establishments big […]

FMM 1 3 20 Respect and Reciprocity

“Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.” ~ Albert Schweitzer. For my mother, sending cards at Christmas was a serious affair.  With her organizational and secretarial skills, the task received the best of her talents.  Each year her list would be carefully reviewed.  Who […]

FMM 12 27 19 Home Stretch

“You can be still and still moving. Content even in your discontent.” ~ Ram Dass. There was a time when I would unwind after a hectic night shift by sitting at my dining table reading the Miami Herald, cup of coffee at my side, kids on or off my lap.  Sundays were particularly special – […]

FMM 12 13 19 Gobsmacked

“He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.” ~ Confucius. One of the things about growing up a Preacher’s Kid (PK as they say in the US) is that you are always having to watch what you say.  Not just what you say, but how you say it.  In […]

FMM 12 6 19 Reggaefication

“Where destruction is the motive, unity is dangerous.” ~ Ravi Zacharias.  I may be prejudiced, but there is something special about Jamaica the country and Jamaica the people.  When my mother was in the last decade of her life, after she had lost her life partner (married for 66 years, engaged for 3 years before […]