I've Been Reading Some Great Essays Recently

I've been reading some wonderful essays recently.  Just finished the book pictured above, "The Best American Essays 2011," which not only contained some wonderful work, but also contained what I think is probably the best essay I have ever read.

It's called "What Broke My Father's Heart" and was written by Katy Butler.  I had never heard of her before, but a quick check on Amazon.com shows that she has written a number of books.  I have stacks of books at home that I'm meaning to get through, including a number of volumes in this "Best American . . ." series, but I think I will read some of Butler's other work before I get much farther along in what I already have stacked up.

"What Broke My Father's Heart" is about the decline of his father's health, the various procedures he went through to lengthen his life, the feelings of himself, his wife and his daughter, and the ultimate death of both himself and his wife.  I've never read anything as poignant as this essay.

It did not surprise me when I discovered in the blurb about Butler in the back of the book that the article was named one of the 100 best articles of all time.  Here's the URL of that web page, which I am sure lists many more memorable essays.   Knowing what I now know about the quality of this essay, I am anxious to read more of this author's work.

I Can Walk AQgain

Hey, folks -- I haven't been active in the last few months because my left hip had deteriorated to the point that I almost could not walk. All my energies were involved in daily activities like cooking meals, paying bills, etc., and taking care of my wife, who is disabled. The pain in my left hip had become so great that even with medication I had to quit teaching at school for several months. I am happy to report, though, that my hip replacement operation on 19 December was so successful that a month later I am able to walk, sometimes without a cane.

Fifty years ago if this had happened I would have had to spend the rest of my life in bed because hip replacement operations didn't exist. Hooray for modern medicine. And hooray for medical insurance and Medicare.

I Was Lucky Enough to Survive (1)

Yes, there certainly is a lot to be thankful, from beautiful sunsets to delicious pastries like the ones pictured above.

At the age of 70 -- 71 in two weeks -- I look back over my life and see three events during which I could easily have died, and yet I somehow survived. Despite these three events, I am able to be grateful for the sunlight in the morning -- or even for the rain. I can still enjoy a good cup of coffee, a wonderful book ("So many books, so little time"), the company of my wife, great music, watching the innocence of children playing, seeing the beauty of flowers, remembering some of the incredible things I have done in my life and the incredible places I have been (lots more about that in subsequent posts), and the amazing variety of human personalities I have been exposed to. And I reflect that had each of the three events I referred to at the beginning of this paragraph gone slightly differently, I would not be around to enjoy all the things I enjoy.

The first of these events chronologically was not dramatic at all, and I have only one fleeting memory of it. When I was very young (I was born in 1938) I got pneumonia. This was either near the end or after World War II. My father was a physician and was on the staff of the hospital where I was admitted. I don't know if antibiotics were rationed at that point, but I do know that they were very new and in short supply. Probably because of my father's position in the hospital, I was given antibiotics, without which, I was told later when I was an adult, I would not have lived.

[A note about the photo: Here are some French pastries I found at a patisserie in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. Show me someone who doesn't enjoy food (or have a sense of humor) and I will show you a deficient human being. I love food !

If you want to have fun and enjoy life, go out and get yourself some French Pastry like this. Taste the smooth, creamy custard. Sense the fragrance of the custard and of the fruit. Note the texture of the fruit and its sweetness. Don't just wolf it down. Make eating this pastry an experience to remember. Enjoy it !]