‘I was content competing to be the best black’
“In 1996, I received a plaque from GCCISD for my PSAT scores on behalf of the National Merit Program. It was called ‘The Exceptional Negro’ award. I’d scored in the top 5% of black high school...
Category: Short Stories
Seeing world through autistic son’s eyes
D: “Alex has what’s called pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. It’s a type of autism.” K: “He’s considered intellectually disabled as well. He functions like a wonderful, beautiful child with all the funny things. He’s like...
Medical response dog watching for falls
“We had three senior dogs, and we lost all of them because they were just at that age. One of them, Pablo, was a medical response dog. I trained him because I have two brain aneurysms....
Good days, bad days with Parkinson’s
K: “David was working as a federal attorney, and he started to have trouble with executive functioning. He was always the go-to guy in the office, his supervisors said. He was the one who mentored all...
Big sister steps up in time of need
“Last summer, my dad was diagnosed with renal cancer. It was a really big surprise. We were on a road trip, and he got food poisoning eating at a Chili’s. We ended up going to the...
Debate opens her eyes to differing points of view
“One of my friends got into an argument on social media. She texted me and said, ‘These two people are harassing me on Facebook. Can you please help?’ So I kind of intervened. But I very...
Bullrider loses his life, but lets her live
“They had to go through a lot of approvals to put me back on the transplant list. Somehow they got it done. And within a week, they found another liver for me. It was amazing how...
‘They thought they were going to lose me’
“After my transplant, I had scans every six months. Since I had two little nodules of cancer in my original liver, they wanted to make sure it didn’t come back. “Meanwhile, they discovered that my bile...
Her birthday present: a new liver
“They called on a Saturday morning. My husband had just gotten off working nights, so I didn’t answer the phone. Then they called him. He didn’t answer his phone. They called my daughter. She didn’t answer...
Community theater haven for ‘weird kid’
“I did my first play when I was about 5 years old. It was a church Christmas play, and I was the star that led the wise men to baby Jesus. I discovered that I was...
