I still can’t quite believe my mother is gone. She survived so much, but in the end, it was something as simple as the flu and pneumonia that she could not survive. We had the sad task of cleaning out her small room at Lakeside Assisted Living. I wanted to rescue her art and her…
Category: Death
My Mom’s Nine Lives
I recently read that the average lifespan for a person diagnosed with schizophrenia is 69 years. That’s a whole decade less than the average American life span. Mental illness cascades into physical illness for many reasons. Those who have trouble functioning in the world are less likely to get preventative care, more likely to live…
Your Unauthorized Biography
When we die, each one of us leaves behind an archive. How much control do we have over that material once we have shuffled off this mortal coil? This week, SIFF is doing a limited run of the new documentary on the life of Kurt Cobain, Montage of Heck. This is the first “authorized” documentary, in that…
Patrick
I’m trying to write something to say at my friend Patrick’s funeral — something “short and beautiful” as his mother requests — but there is so much to say about such a multitudinous being whom I’ve known for close to 40 years. Patrick died last Friday as the result of a catastrophic cardiac event. His…
Plumb Wonderful 