Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines the word “snap” as: to grasp at something eagerly; make a pounce or snatch; to bark out irritable or peevish retorts; to undergo a sudden and rapid change. I wanted to make sure that is, in fact, what happened yesterday toward the end of my run at the Naval Academy. My...
This year my husband and I have lost both of our Labrator-Chow mixes They were 14 years old, so we knew it was coming, but you’re never really ready for that feeling of emptiness or hollowness you feel when they leave your life. Only then do you realize how much they gave to you. Dogs, of course, are good...
In the fall of 2007 Mother Teresa graced the cover of Time magazine when her private writings were published, many of the excerpts filled with surprising doubt, despair, and a kind of spiritual anguish. Some journalists questioned whether or not she was clinically depressed. Did this modern saint have an untreated mood disorder or did her pain...
A year ago this month my husband and I started a new diet. It had nothing to do with a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. For about nine months, he had been suffering from bad hives all over his body. It was bizarre. One day he’d wake up and they’d be all over his...
The Ebola crisis. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. ISIS. It doesn’t take much these days to arrive at a panicked state. Not if you stay abreast of news headlines. Nine years ago, when I had my first mental health breakdown, I realized that my psyche was way too fragile to absorb detailed updates about the turmoil...
