I believe in black holes. I believe that as the universe empties into nothingness, past and future will smack together in the last swirl around the drain.

Tell us please, what treatment in an emergency is administered by ear?"....I met his gaze and I did not blink. "Words of comfort," I said to my father.

By visiting patients in their home, by helping them come to terms with their illness, I could heal when I could not cure.

The crookedness of the serpent is still straight enough to slide through the snake hole.

According to Shiva, life is in the end about fixing holes. Shiva didn't speak in metaphors. fixing holes is precisely what he did. Still, it's an apt metaphor for our profession. But there's another kind of hole, and that is the wound that divides family. Sometimes this wound occurs at the moment of birth, sometimes it happens later. We are all fixing what is broken. It is the task of a lifetime. We'll leave much unfinished for the next generation.

What we are fighting isn't godlessness--this is the most godly country on earth. We aren't even fighting disease. Its poverty. Money for food, medicines... that helps. When we cannot cure or save a life, our patients can at least feel cared for. It should be a basic human right.

To be around someone whose self-confidence is more than what our first glance led us to expect is seductive.