They call it the hour of the wolf. Those hours just before dawn. Many folk traditions believe it’s when most people are born and when they die. Ancient armies would rise and offer prayers to their gods during this time, then march into dawn and battle. In the modern era, the early morning hours between […]
Following on from “The Business of Death” posted earlier this month… January, 2007. It took my father four hours to choke to death. I sat vigil in his hospital room as he fought the fluid in his lungs, his face a mask of agony, unable to speak or communicate in any way. His eyes, […]
My grandmother is dying. I spent a long weekend in West Virginia saying goodbye and watching my family quietly fall apart. It’s weird, really, to have inane family bullshit spin out of control around her deathbed. Weird because, well, we’re poor. It’d be one thing if my grandparents were loaded, because I can understand pettily […]