“You look different.” That’s what my friend said to me last night as we were enjoying soup and sandwiches at Atlanta Bread Company. The last time I saw him I was coming home from the hospital. Since that time I’ve gained 30 pounds, I was told I had stage four cancer, I’ve had 11 infusions of chemo, my grandmother died, I’ve started a blog, and I packed up an apartment and moved. That’s a lot to happen since March. I also just happened to get a haircut so that could have facto

I was at the farm over the weekend. It was fun being there with Jaimie, because, to tell you the truth, she’s a little afraid of nature. With good reason- she's allergic to nearly everything. Nature is truly out to get her. She knows it’s a war and her skin and sinuses are on the front lines. And this weekend nature was on full display. The grass had grown up some since last I was there, giving it a sense of wildness. Every step was fraught was fraught with enemies. Seedlings

My junior year of college, I got into a little bit of trouble. My girlfriend and I were driving from Atlanta to Savannah for St. Patrick’s Day and about halfway there, in a little town called Soperton, GA, I pulled off on an exit to let my girlfriend drive. That’s when I saw the flashing blue lights. What could they have wanted? Was I speeding? On an exit ramp? Is that even possible? Apparently my license tag light was out. Yeah. And this cop was pulling me over to prevent th

I watch a lot of sports. One thing people say over and over again is that Father Time is undefeated. Meaning that everyone, even the greatest among us, are going to get old and not be able to do the things we once could do. As soon as professional athletes hit 30, analysts start to watch for signs of their inevitable decline. Every bad game is just proof that the end is right around the corner. It can be depressing for those of us who aren't professional athletes to hear peop

Dum Spiro Spero. While I breathe I hope. This is what is on the Great Seal of the State of South Carolina. I remember learning that in Challenge class when I was in elementary school. I thought it was the coolest saying in the world. Dum Spiro Spero. While I breathe I hope. Of course it’s easy to be that optimistic when you're 9 years old and everything is taken care of for you. It becomes harder when you get out into the world and start working and realize that no one really

The first alarm went off at 4:15 in the morning. That is too early for alarms. Even my dog reached over and hit snooze. The second one went off at 4:30. I forced myself to stay awake until the 4:45 and forced myself to throw off the blankets at 4:47. Twenty minutes later we were out the door. The move from Atlanta to Greenville has added a drive to my treatment days. The first part of part of the drive is easy. But the last 20 miles take over an hour with Atlanta traffic. Hen

I had a gift certificate for the Cracker Barrel, so Jaimie and I went for lunch yesterday. It’s weird going to a Cracker Barrel in the place where you live. It’s like I want to have lunch and feel like I’m in the middle of an 8 hour road trip. I know, let’s go to Cracker Barrel! We had spent the afternoon walking around Travelers Rest, SC. TR, for those who don’t know, is a fifteen minute drive from downtown Greenville. If you had told me as a teenager that I would be 39 year

You have to experience something to know the full power of it. September 9th, 1989, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, off the Cape Verde Islands, Hurricane Hugo formed and started to make its way east. Along the way, it became a Category 4 storm and hit Guadeloupe and St. Croix. It weakened to a Category 3 when it hit Puerto Rico, then went down to a Category 2 and then all of a sudden- boom- it picked up steam. The rain got harder, the wind got stronger; it went back up t

Walked around downtown Greenville on Sunday. I was going up some stairs and there was a family in front of me. The dad says to his friend, “Parenting is a tough business,” and then he picked his kid up and carried him up the stairs. As he did this I noticed that the kid was still wearing a diaper. This kid had been walking and talking in front of me for like three blocks. It confused me because I’m not quite sure when kids stop wearing diapers. Are they talking and still shi

Took a week off from blogging. Sorry to do it without warning. I needed some time to reflect and look back at the things that are happening. Had chemo yesterday. My buddy Dylan from Montana was there with me. Dylan was my roommate in college, and his parents lived in Banner Elk, NC, a small town in the mountains, 30 minutes north of Boone. It is a lovely place and his parents lived right on top of Hickory Nut Gap Road. Their house had a gorgeous view of the mountains, a hot t