Lately, it has been hot, so I decided to do something that would make life a little easier. I cooked a bunch of different meals in the crock pot, put them into containers, and froze them. That way, when the weather is hot, I wouldn't have to do much cooking. Then a flyer came in from the local Mexican market. They had pineapples, plantains, mangoes, watermelon, cucumbers—fresh fruits and vegetables at really good prices. They also had beef shanks. So after the gym, I had my caretaker take me to the store. I already had plenty of food at home. I had meals in the freezer, food in the refrigerator, and everything I needed. I wasn't going to the store because I was running out of food. But when I got there, something happened. I felt happy. The store was colorful and full of fresh food. I could choose one of this, two of that, three of something else. I wasn't limited to whatever quantity happened to come in a package. I could actually look at what I wanted and decide what I wa...
Why I’m Still Here By Jean Marshall I’ve asked myself the question more times than I can count: Why am I still here? After a stroke that changed my life five years ago, I thought I had already learned resilience. I thought I had already been tested. But then came the accident — a beautiful September morning that shattered my body, altered my future, and once again forced me to start over from the ground up. There are days I still can’t fully understand it. One man’s poor decision, one wrong moment, and everything changed. My bones broke. My leg was lost. My body shut down. My life — the one I’d built with so much effort — came to a stop. But somehow, my heart didn’t. They tell me it took over twenty doctors and nurses to keep me alive that day. I was in an induced coma, held together by machines, prayers, and the hands of strangers. There were moments I thought I was dying — I even said my last prayers. But each time I surrendered, something unseen pulled me back. Something...