To become chronically ill is not only to have a disease that you have to manage, but to have a new story about yourself, a story that many people refuse to hear—because it is deeply unsatisfying, full of fits and starts, anger, resentment, chasms of unruly need.
Meghan O'Rourke • The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
Reese used to live in a snow globe, happy and content and immune from the mean realities of the universe, secure in her own private existence. Getting sick had shattered Reese’s world, and she and Kris were still picking up the jagged pieces of glass. Kris seemed to be immune to the rough edges, but Reese managed to get cut by the jagged bits,... See more
Organization for Transformative Works • archiveofourown.org | 520: Web server is returning an unknown error
Sometimes I think Papa’s illness is the universe’s cruel art, a reminder that even the most beautiful creations decay. Papa was beauty in defiance, now he is beauty in endurance. The world has a way of punishing both.