by AnnSheybani | Sep 24, 2010 | aging, Chris Crowley, Confidence, goals, Henry Cabot Lodge, kedging, M.D., marathon, Mount Washington Road Race, mountain climbing, Vietnamese, weight lifting
The other day, a fellow at the gym showed me a photo. Circa 1967, a young man in fatigues posed before a large, stone Buddha. “That’s me in Japan,” he said, pointing at his yellowed image. “R&R during the war. Man, that trip was something else.” He sighed... by AnnSheybani | Aug 31, 2010 | Alcoholism, Faith
Like a junkie with a 14-gauge needle, my mother used books to blot out reality. Curled up in her chair, immersed in a novel, she ceased to be aware of anyone or anything around her. When she put her book down, exposed herself to the rage and tension that contaminated... by AnnSheybani | Aug 8, 2010 | Bigotry, Chiang Kai Shek, Codependency, Cultural Issues, Gloria Steinim, Hostage crisis, Iran, Rescue, Suzy Wong
I’m disappearing to a writer’s conference for ten days. So here, because time is not my friend, is a segment from my book The Lost Girls of Shiraz. A draft, but a taste nonetheless. He’s so sure of himself, this man beside me. So comfortable in his own... by AnnSheybani | Jul 14, 2010 | Confidence, Uncategorized
I just got back from climbing Mt. McKinley (Denali) in Alaska. Twenty days hauling an 80-lbs pack up steep traverses interspersed with hours on end languishing in a tent. Hard work mixed with sheer laziness. It’s been a long time since I’ve slept for fourteen hours... by AnnSheybani | May 31, 2010 | cancer, Cultural Issues, death, dying, Faith, fatalism, Final Gifts, hospice nurse, Kubler-Ross
So much time has passed, but the two and a half years of illness are still fresh in my mind. I can still hear his voice calling me from the hospital after exploratory surgery. From the tone, I know something is terribly wrong even before he tells me. He’s supposed...
