Memoir

Book of Days: Two Years, Two Dogs, Two Cancers covers a two-year period, from late 2020 until 2022. During the pandemic I was diagnosed with base-of-tongue and prostate cancer, I finished an MFA in nonfiction writing, and we lost one dog and got another. 

The core of the book is the journal I kept during these two years, with essays interspersed on topics that came to mind. I had lots of time to think and many things to think about during these two years. After cancer tapped me on the shoulder to remind me that mortality is no longer an abstract concept when you’re in your late 60s, I had to confront the questions raised by age and illness. What have I accomplished? What do I want to do with my remaining time? I thought about how I got here, how my early environment and experiences shaped me. My past looked different from today’s vantage point; my present looked different, after re-examining the past.