Stephanie Klein Greek Tragedy

Phil’s mother is flying in tomorrow morning. She’ll be picked up at the airport, then dropped off at the hospital. To wait with me. "No one should have to wait alone in a waiting room," she said. Dr. Natale said…

Phil had an appointment with his cardiologist yesterday. It was a scheduled "stress echo," where they were planning on taking photos of his heart at rest, and then every three minutes, as they upped the speed on a treadmill. That…

 
In two weeks Phil will be "cardioverted." It sounds like an optional amenity, something you pay a little extra for, like a sunroof or heated seats. But it’s not a turbo button beside the gears. It’s electric shock via…

 
Heart History: Phil’s father died at age 32 of a weak heart, an unknown cardiomyopothy, where it was explained that the pump of his heart wasn’t strong enough. Phil, 41, had a very low resting heart rate of 30…

 
"The good thing is, at least he had a stroke and stopped talking. I mean, that man was a big talker, and I’m sayin’ he got out and used all his words up by the time that stroke came.…

 
This is where you were born. On Pearl Harbor Day: a sneak attack. You busted out ten weeks before you were due, with Papa in New York, and Mama on the sofa. We had been to Saint David’s before…

 
I generally kinda hate gratitude posts. They bore me. Not so much writing them out of the blue, just reading them on other blogs, or writing them thinking people are just waiting for one. As if I began a…

This is not a photo of Phil but of the new man bra life vest he’ll be wearing. And to be clear, his eating habits and lifestyle have nothing to do with his heart condition. He doesn’t have clogged arteries.…