Come What May

"The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil" (Joseph F. Smith).    This summer in Ecuador the mosquitoes have caused quite the epidemic.  As it so happens I have been in Ecuador. I have also been bit by mosquitoes; so as is the natural conclusion I too have contracted the disease. Just recently I found out that my chikungunya virus is causing liver inflammation; that means hepatitis, baby. It's a mild case, but at least it explains the joint pain, headaches, and fatigue; it even explains the raging hormones that have taken me back to my middle school days a time or two. The good news according to my medical professional: I am emotionally stable. That's gotta make you feel good.     During the initial flu symptoms a couple months ago I left my bed exclusively for food and the bathroom. For each small venture beyond my cave I was given plenty of warm lime water to drink. Yum. Each time I thought: I do...

As I sat quietly at my desk studying, my fellow freshman roommate passed through the doorway with my Anatomy and Physiology textbook open in her hands. In response to my curious look at her nervous giggles she burst out courageously, “I have questions.” Unbeknown to me my inquisitive roommate had spent the past 45 minutes pouring through the chapter on reproductive systems. For the next two hours I found myself answering question after question about genitals and the “miracle of life” as our other blushing roommate shook her head quietly in disbelief. That day I realized that learning appropriate terminology and discussing sexual terms as a family had influenced my healthy thought processes regarding sex. My mind flashed back to the first time I understood how sex worked. My mom and I were reading a children’s reference book called The Human Body . Mom was very frank with me: “This is a uterus,” “That is a penis;” and just like that we talked about sexuality. Throughout the years we ...