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Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Dec 6, 20243 min read
Aging Isn't What You Expect: Everyday Magic, Day 1,113
"How are we? How do we think we are? We are just waiting to die," Nanny (my grandmother) would tell me when I asked how she and Papa (my...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Apr 30, 20244 min read
Five Years Later: A Cancer Story: Everyday Magic, Day 1098
"It's either an ocular melanoma or a brain tumor," the doctor told me five years ago. Ken, my brother Ravi, and I all gasped in unison....
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jun 27, 20223 min read
Boobs and Bravery on the Move: Everyday Magic, Day 1061
It’s been a week of boobs and bravery on the move (and I don’t mean the supreme court, which I have other names for rather than slang for...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Apr 30, 20224 min read
Cancer Anniversaries: Everyday Magic, Day 1056
Cancer is often measured in anniversaries and fruit. We survivors often report in with our years out from the cancer after our initial...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 30, 20224 min read
My Friend Vaughn and the Walk to the House Down the Road: Everyday Magic, Day 1054
“Vaughn keeps talking about the house down the road,” Julie, his wife, told me just a few days before he died. I listened on the other...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Feb 13, 20222 min read
Love and Death in February: Everyday Magic, Day 1050
“Maybe since January lasted for seven and a half years, February will be easy,” I said to my friend Kris. She was doubtful since...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Oct 26, 20212 min read
Listening to the Land With New Hearing: Everyday Magic, Day 1061
Lying in bed this morning between layers of flannel with a purring kitty under the covers with me, I dreamed in and out of the call of a...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Oct 6, 20213 min read
Make Mine an MRI With a Side of Enya and a Rainbow for Dessert: Everyday Magic, Day 1060
Question: How many MRIs does it take a claustrophobe to relax? Answer: When Brandon, the wonderful (re: tolerant) MRI tech asked I told...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Apr 23, 20213 min read
Rematerializing After Being Beamed Up: Everyday Magic, Day 1036
In the Star Trek shows and films, someone can yell out, with grave urgency or casual cheer, “Scotty, beam me up” then off they go. But...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 20, 20213 min read
A Visit to Scan Land: Everyday Magic, Day 1033
“I’m here for my monogram,” a silver-haired woman told the receptionist. “Yes, your mammogram,” the receptionist answered without missing...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Mar 5, 20212 min read
Life (and Tinnitus) in the Key of G: Everyday Magic, Day 1030
Last night, I found that my tinnitus buzzes and hums in the key of G. How did I find this? By singing in key with the tinnitus while...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jun 17, 20202 min read
What is a Year?: Everyday Magic, Day 1009
A year ago, I was positively radioactive. On June 14, I had surgery to insert a tiny gold disk of radioactive pellets in my right eye,...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
May 24, 20203 min read
The Peonies Where a Tornado, Cancer Diagnosis, and Pandemic Meet: Everyday Magic, Day 1007
As I watch the Pendleton’s peonies I just bought rush from tight little balls to full-throttle fireworks of blossoms, I keep thinking of...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Apr 29, 20205 min read
Cancer Anniversary: From a Personal Pandemic to a Global One: Everyday Magic, Day 1005
A year ago today, pacing an empty parking lot, I cried so hard on the phone with my friend Kelley that it was hard to get the words out:...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Feb 6, 20204 min read
Scans For Life: Everyday Magic, Day 956
Years ago when I was in the oncology center waiting room for an appointment following my bout of breast cancer, two women made me cry....
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Sep 8, 20193 min read
Counting on the Other Side of Cancer: Everyday Magic, Day 984
When life feels out of control, I start counting. I first noticed this habit/neurosis/coping mechanism when I was in labor for my oldest...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Aug 7, 20194 min read
Loving and Leaving Goddard: Everyday Magic, Day 981
Arm-in-arm, Vicky, Eduardo, Ralph, and I walked down the snowy country road, belting out “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” and doing...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jul 28, 20193 min read
When Life Reboots You: Everyday Magic, Day 980
I realize that all of us get rebooted in our lives, and usually more than once, catalyzed by a medical diagnosis, a big loss and plunge...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jun 26, 20193 min read
Oh, For the Relief of Pain!: Everyday Magic, Day 977
All of this has me thinking a lot about the lengths I could go to to outrun pain, which are considerable. I can’t imagine slapping a...
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Jun 17, 20193 min read
“God’s Got You, Baby”: Everyday Magic, Day 976
That’s what Cynthia said as she led me back to the surgery prep room when I told her I was scared. “And don’t you worry because God made...
