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With the exception of a misguided attempt at first love with a man that I am sure at least one culture in human civilization would describe as a relative, I’ve never dated a man that I haven’t first met online. Naively, I relayed this fact of my life to a friend of mine who is… Read more
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It’s amazing how often my elderly hospice patients advise me to live without fear, love with everything I have, enjoy life while I’m still young, and do what makes me happy. They say this so often I’ve come to believe they are collectively speaking Truth with a capital T and that these are some of… Read more
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At 36, I am happier with myself than I’ve ever been. More than any time in my life, I take joy in simply being me. But this week has been a harsh reminder that I still have a healthy dose of self-hatred running through my veins. I’ve hated myself for much of my life. This… Read more
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OddbyGod is an earnest but irreverent podcast on spirituality. Nina G, the world’s only stuttering female stand-up comedian, helps her friend Heather, a hospice chaplain who likes to cuss, inaugurate the OddbyGod podcast and talk with her on everything from disability culture, the Pope, their recent trip to Wyoming, and their shared love of stand-up… Read more
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A few years ago, an obscure pastor in Florida held a sacred book in one hand and the promise of a lighter in another, threatening, in effect, to throw an ideological grenade into a crowded room and take the viewing world hostage in an unprecedented display of evangelistic theatrics and foreign policy nightmare. I raised… Read more
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One Saturday night several years ago, I rented a couple of movies and ordered take-out at my favorite Chinese restaurant in town. Sitting in the front lobby while I waited for my Chinese chicken salad and potstickers, I passed my time on a bench next to a medium-sized aquarium. The restaurant itself was quiet for… Read more
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“Nearby is the country they call life. You will know it by its seriousness. Give me your hand.” –Rainer Marie Rilke She was an octagenarian living in an advanced state of dementia. Completely bedbound and dependent, she no longer spoke except for increasingly rare one-word utterances. Mostly, she stared into space or slept but once… Read more
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Easter this year was again Easter. I didn’t realize it until I was driving home Sunday evening after visiting my parents for the weekend in Fresno. The two-lane road was flanked on both sides by orchards of olive and orange trees. Driving through San Joaquin Valley orchards in the Spring has long been one of my… Read more
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Last night, I went swing dancing for the first time in years. As I awkwardly began to remember the steps, it felt like my body sprang free from its pen like a gangly, restless colt. Giddy within minutes, I asked myself, “How did I ever give this up? How could I forget how much I… Read more
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Half showers are dangerous. Half showers are lazy showers. Half showers are for people like me who don’t want to go through all the effort of a full body shower when all they need is to, ahem, “freshen up”. (And please don’t look at me like my lady parts are so much smellier than yours… Read more
Heather Isaacs 