Greetings my friends,
As we march toward the end of the year, I hope each of us finds enough time to remember why we celebrate Christmas, to internalize its great message and find the peace and comfort it offers.
This month I begin an exploration of a memoir I’ve been working on for many years.
In writing your own story, you first have to know if the story is finished. This is tricky in memoir, because human nature is to accommodate and change with circumstance, so knowing where to put that last period can by hard. Am I really through all of this? The answer finally, is yes.
I’ve gone through many titles—Writing in Purgatory, Nurse Tree, I Don’t Want to Take Care of your Body. As I wrap this project up, I’m hopeful I’ll land the best title, the one that says READ ME.
I retired from my medical practice when I was forty-seven years old, too young by any measure . My memoir is the story of why. When unexpected events turn your life upside down, you rarely see the end from the beginning.
One of the audiences I am writing to is my patients. I always felt like I needed to explain to them why I left medicine. They trusted me, and caring for them was one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.
Why would a successful physician walk away from her career?
Why is about the reasons things happen. When you understand why, you understand.