We say birds are free because they can do what we cannot, fly. We put them in cages where we can watch, but they cannot fly. Trapped, they die, dusty, crusty, shabby, lonely, and — what we’ll never know — heartbroken. Our bodies suffer a similar fate. Continue reading
When we left you, my father’s long-term care insurance had just denied him long-term care coverage, and we were getting ready to appeal. Then a strange thing happened. The insurer offered to pay back all his premiums. Dad’s eyes lit up. Ramming speed, I said. Continue reading
While it is true that my father never read the policy, it is also true that he was hoodwinked. He signed on to a policy called long-term care insurance, expecting at some point to get long-term care coverage. But let’s wink at knucklehead gullibility for now and consider how the policy was introduced to him. Continue reading
My 94-year-old father dove down the basement stairs backwards June 26, 2015. The aftereffects of that fall signaled a sea change: Dad had to move somewhere safe, like a senior care home. The move was effected, but by the end of the process, I felt I had delivered him over to the devil. Continue reading