Every day can be the trip of a lifetime.
First, a little housekeeping. If you're new here or don't have the whole story, I recommend starting at chapter one - click here A little over thirty years ago a got an up-close, first hand look at what death from prostate cancer looked like. My step-father had recently passed away and we had hospice services … Continue reading 13. Death as Teacher
Today I'm sharing a poem that I read in a book gifted to me by a dear friend. The book, The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness and Joy, contains over one hundred poems. This one poem stuck out. I come back to it every few days. If You Knew, by Ellen Bass What if you knew … Continue reading 12. The Guinea Pig, Day 33
When the dust settlesThen we'll visitAnd hugBut not too hardWe can bring along our tearsAnd make it rain And see what grows But the dust never settles So we should say goodbyeEvery time we part ways That short poem just flowed today. Right out, with no effort. I had a brief conversation last year with … Continue reading 11. The Guinea Pig, Day 4
I was at Dana Farber Cancer Institute again today. I was supposed to start the "study" that I mentioned in the previous post. It got delayed for two weeks because they forgot to tell me to stop taking my current medications. So after weening myself off the steroids and stopping the main cancer drug, I … Continue reading 10. The Guinea Pig, Day 1
I know you've been on the edge of your seat waiting to hear about the results of the PET scan. So here we go. The scan showed exactly what the previous three and a half years of scans have showed. Widespread lesions of the prostate cancer in my skeletal and lymph systems. On the plus … Continue reading 9. Plusses, Minuses and a Valuable Lesson Learned
I went for a PET scan recently. This was not something I was interested in doing. I already know from the bone-scan tests I had three and a half years ago and another just last year that the cancer had reached stage 4 with widespread lesions throughout my body in my skeletal and lymph systems. … Continue reading 8. Ultimately, The Goal is to Die Happy & Peacefully
If you're a regular reader of this blog you know that I'm planning on going to Bali in March of 2025 for a special experience. Nyepi, also celebrated as Balinese new year, takes place on March 29, 2025. I have been thinking about returning to Bali for Nyepi and this is the first time that … Continue reading The Bali Experience March 2025
I've been avoiding visiting Cambodia forever. When we were traveling around the world in 2018 we decided to skip it. My major concern was one of principle. Cambodia has elections every five years. A few months before every election the opposition party candidates are rounded up and thrown in jail for a few months, sometimes … Continue reading Mixed Feelings, Visiting & Writing About Cambodia
If you told me ten years ago that I'd be traveling to Bangkok, Thailand on a regular basis I would never have believed it. It was the second country we visited in 2018 on our year-long travels. We arrived after three months in India and I was immediately struck by the sense of order as … Continue reading Tea, Meditation & Philanthropy in Bangkok
We took off a week ago, hopped on the bus to Logan Airport, and caught the first of our many flights for this Summer's trip to Asia. I made a last minute pitch to Laurie to upgrade to Qatar Airways "Q-Suite" for the first leg of flight - a long twelve hour journey. She approved. … Continue reading A Week on the Road – 3 Countries and it Feels Like Home
Which Country From? 