Let donations ring!
This photograph may look like your average 36-year-old man eating a red, white, and blue popsicle, but there's much more. At the time,...
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- Apr 19
- 4 min
Breathe in gratitude
Today is one of the tougher grief milestones because it marks two years since Ramón's cardiac arrest. My hope for today is that I can...
- Jul 20, 2021
- 2 min
Rewriting the story
After Ramón’s death a year ago, I set a goal to build my endurance until I could run for 60 minutes without stopping. I can’t recall why...
- Jan 20, 2021
- 4 min
The gossip on grief: Six months later
Grief is powerful. In fact, it's so mighty it has rendered society largely incapable of discussing it. Today marks 6 months of widowhood.
- Aug 18, 2020
- 4 min
Befores and afters
A few weeks ago, two of my long-time cohorts stopped by to enjoy drinks and conversation – and bring dinner (Yum!). My friend Amanda...
- Jul 2, 2020
- 2 min
Day +83: Let non-freedom ring
“I’m not going to wear my ring, okay?” I remember Ramón asking that as we did one last sweep of the house before departing for the...
- Jun 25, 2020
- 3 min
Day +76: Mashed potatoes
This morning, day +76, while walking the dogs, my mom turned to me and asked, “Did I tell you about the dream where I was feeding Ramón...
- May 26, 2020
- 3 min
Day +46: Life is hard.
The past several weeks have been, without a doubt, the most difficult time of my life. Each day, I have been hopeful that Ramón’s status...
- Mar 17, 2020
- 1 min
Our lucky day?
This photo was taken two years ago today, and it has me feeling somewhat nostalgic. I’m longing for a time when I was the only sick half...
- Mar 12, 2020
- 2 min
Keeping it ill
It’s everywhere you turn: coronavirus this and coronavirus that. One minute, you read an article about a grieving daughter who suddenly...
- Dec 31, 2019
- 2 min
Peace out, 2019
The time has finally come to say goodbye to one of the best, most awful years of my life. I got a cold on Thanksgiving (so thankful),...
- Nov 7, 2019
- 2 min
Some mumbo for your jumbo
First, I want to proactively acknowledge that this post might be a little bit out there, but guess who doesn’t care? Me! I read something...
- Oct 22, 2019
- 3 min
Wait no more
Yesterday afternoon, I cozied up in bed with the dogs to do a meditation. Let’s be real; we all know that’s the prelude to a mid-day nap....
- Oct 10, 2019
- 5 min
It's just a game. But I still hurt.
October 10. 10/10. That sounds like a date filled with promise, doesn’t it? It’s clean and round and associated with a perfect score....
- Sep 19, 2019
- 4 min
Grief: A hard pill to swallow
Grief is very real. It’s exhausting, it’s sneaky, and it’s unpredictable. And it spans to all areas of loss – actual, perceived, or even...
- Sep 4, 2019
- 2 min
Oh my memoir
Yesterday I finished a four-part memoir writing class. When I saw it was being offered, I thought, 'Well, now's not really a good time,'...
- Aug 9, 2019
- 1 min
The gift of time
Look how fancy we get for other people's weddings and wear jeans to our own! I stumbled across this post the other day and realized I...
- Jun 26, 2019
- 2 min
One of one
We’re 50 days into this cancer thing. It’s still somewhat surreal to type that, yet it’s also difficult to remember life before the...
- Aug 5, 2017
- 2 min
The struggle has ended
After a 22-year battle with cystic fibrosis, my friend Darcey passed away on Wednesday, August 3. I first met her when I was an intern at...
- Jul 27, 2017
- 3 min
Equality: Worth every penny
I have never considered myself a very political person. For as long as I can remember, I've always felt that politics were much bigger...
My name is Drew Dotson, and my life has been anything but perfect, yet it's still perfectly beautiful. After growing up with a genetic disease, cystic fibrosis, I was blessed to meet an amazing man who loved me without bounds. Then he died.