On the right track
This is one of my favorite photos from 2022, taken in November. Yes, it’s a selfie, but this was a moment I wanted to capture. I felt so...
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![Rain, rain, you can stay [a while]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/031aef_75850fcb691c4703beb974b05aa32ea9~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_334,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/031aef_75850fcb691c4703beb974b05aa32ea9~mv2.jpg)
- Jan 12
- 3 min
Rain, rain, you can stay [a while]
Nothing quite brings me to life like the feeling before a thunderstorm — as the wind picks up and electricity builds in the air. I've...
- Dec 7, 2022
- 2 min
Season's Grievings
It’s the most wonderful time of year.* *but not for everyone I’ve intended to write this post for weeks now, but I’ve struggled with...
- Nov 25, 2022
- 3 min
A flight of imagination
I have a complicated relationship with airplanes. I was once headed to NYC for a work trip and had an awful asthma attack. I was gasping...
- Oct 21, 2022
- 1 min
I'm published!
I was embarrassed to admit I wanted to be a writer for a very long time. I was fearful of seeming unrealistic, for one, but putting my...
- Oct 5, 2022
- 3 min
I hugged a sign.
I hugged a sign last weekend, and it hugged me back. It’s official! At this very moment, cars are driving over the Judge Ramón Alvarado...
- Sep 22, 2022
- 1 min
Remembering Ramón
I think we’ve all had the same pressing question lately: How do I live a life that's so amazing they name a bridge after me? Just...
- Aug 22, 2022
- 1 min
October 1: Save the date!
Several months ago, a *quite* special resolution was introduced to the Georgia General Assembly: HR 918: Judge Ramón Alvarado Bridge;...
- Aug 16, 2022
- 2 min
One step at a time
“Here,” an ICU nurse said as she handed me Ramón’s Fitbit. He’d just been situated in the ICU after his cardiac arrest. While they were...
- Jun 16, 2022
- 2 min
Circle back around
This beautiful ring used to adorn my husband's hand, but now it’s in the bottom drawer of my bedside table. When Ramón was going into the...
- Jun 7, 2022
- 1 min
Down here on earth
I cut my left hand this morning. It was nothing serious, but it warranted the use of antiseptic spray. As I got the bottle out of the...
- May 7, 2022
- 1 min
Happy birthday, Your Honor!
Today this guy would have turned 43! It would have also been the three-year anniversary of his cancer diagnosis. This year, as the date...
- Feb 28, 2022
- 3 min
A-O-K
Several days ago, I hopped in my car to head to an appointment, and my Pandora app automatically connected to the car’s audio. I fumbled...
- Jan 7, 2022
- 3 min
A smidgen
As I sat down to write this post, I thought I’d start by saying, "I woke up to a text from Ramón’s brother-in-law, Steve." Then I...
- Nov 10, 2021
- 1 min
What were you wearing when ... ?
As I put on a hoodie this morning, I remembered it was the sweatshirt I was wearing when Ramón was diagnosed with leukemia. I didn’t...
- Oct 7, 2021
- 2 min
Leaves a mark
Earlier this week I let the dogs out for their nighttime pee in the drizzling rain. My dog Noodle was lollygagging around, so I tried to...
- Sep 2, 2021
- 3 min
Whether the weather is cold
Last night I was texting with one of my friends who is also a widow. (Will saying that ever feel normal?) She was having a rough day on...
- Jun 2, 2021
- 1 min
Open doors
One day last June while I was staying in the hospital with Ramón, I decided to watch the video of his swearing in ceremony. Since he was...
- Apr 25, 2021
- 2 min
Paint me surprised
On my birthday in 2013, Ramón and I went to a place where we drank wine and painted. For the next several years, Ramón insisted that his...
- 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.
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.
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