Here's the story
Cough
Early when we were still married
Cough cough
We bought a house
Cough
He put it in his name - I was so
Cough cough cough
Stupid I just listened to him, he told me
Cough
One time that I should supervise
Cough cough
Whenever we had people over doing work
Cough
So I watched them
Cough cough cough cough
My hair was blonde by the end of the day
Cough cough
They were all wearing masks but I don't know
Cough
Why I wasn't wearing one
Cough cough
I did this for weeks
Cough cough
Then my breathing got worse
Cough cough cough
And never got better
Cough cough cough cough
I divorced him
Cough cough cough cough cough
But sometimes
Cough
I wake up at
Cough
Night thinking about that house
Cough cough
That was never mine
Cough cough cough
So, anyways
Cough
That's how I
Cough cough
Got this
Cough
Because you asked
This piece is a story about a family and a house. It ends in a medical concern. In our training, we're taught to put these the other way around - presenting symptom, then possible cause. It takes bravery to share a story like this with anyone, let alone a stranger who just came through the door five seconds before. Makes me wonder what would happen if we captured the stories we hear in the same way that they were told to us.
Bio:
Born in Houston, grew up in San Francisco Bay Area. Did my undergrad at UC Berkeley in Chemical Engineering - took my first creative writing class (Introduction to Short Fiction) there and found I really enjoyed writing. In my second year at the University of Michigan Medical School and am really enjoyed clinical rotations!