“Drink was destroying my life. Tobacco only shortens it, with the best parts over anyway.”
death
Posted inNonfiction
The Christmas Tape
Wendy McClure recounts how an old audio tape of holiday music becomes a record of family history, unspoken rituals, and grief.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Art of Dying
In this long, kitchen-sink essay, long-time New Yorker writer and art critic Peter Schjeldahl reveals that he is dying of lung cancer. He poignantly looks back at his life and career, and his history as a smoker.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Woman’s Work: Becoming a Home of One’s Own
Carolita Johnson considers what it takes to recover from grief, build strength for the future, and become one’s own center of gravity again.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why I Wanted to Finish My Father’s Life’s Work
In this personal essay, Karen Brown recalls the pain and joy of fulfilling a deathbed promise.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Why I Wanted To Finish My Father’s Life’s Work
Karen Brown recalls the pain and joy of fulfilling a deathbed promise.
Posted inCrime, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
The Misidentification of Raheme Malik Perry
When a hospice takes a man off life support in a case of mistaken identity, who is responsible?
Posted inNonfiction
A Woman’s Work: Till Death Do Us Part
Carolita Johnson considers the emotional and physical labor required of women as their loved ones die.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
Old Dudes On Skateboards
The death of his life-long skateboarding friend prompts Aaron Gilbreath to get back on his board — at 44, with his toddler daughter in tow.
Posted inNonfiction
The Girl I Didn’t Save
Cameron Dezen Hammon reflects on her frustrations as a Christian music minister for the terminally ill, unable to heal a cancer patient she cared for, and struggling to be compassionate at her belligerent Jewish father’s bedside.