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I thank my father for the gift of freeze-frame

Maureen Hirthler, MD
Physician
May 9, 2016

I settle into the bent-wicker chair on my lanai and try to relax. It’s a perfect island day, the temperature warm, the breeze cool, and I gaze out over the pool to the tops of the coastal mangroves. I’ve just come home from a shift at the local free clinic, and my mind is occupied by the work we did today.  My fourth-year medical students encountered some difficult patients, and …

Read more…

I thank my father for the gift of freeze-frame

I inwardly watch my life’s blood flow away. And no one notices.

Maureen Hirthler, MD
Physician
April 8, 2015

I’m walking very slowly with my dad down the produce aisle at the local supermarket, past the colorful waxed apples, Mexican mangoes and Rainier cherries, and imagining my life’s blood trickling onto the floor from an invisible wound.

As I pass by the misting system spraying the bins of green, red, yellow and orange peppers, past the lady reaching for carrots, past the stock guy balancing the heirloom tomatoes into a …

Read more…

I inwardly watch my life’s blood flow away. And no one notices.

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