Category Archives: Uncategorized

The New Abnormal

Posted on November 18, 2016 by ivanbenson

Ever since a close friend visited me in the hospital, and mentioned to my wife that we will now have to adjust to “the new normal” (post heart attack), we have batted that expression around and discussed the variety of … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged acceptance, cardiac rehab, change in plans, dashed dreams, December 7, disabled, ejection fraction, emotional lens, fantasy world, heart attack, Landon Saunders, Life, life threatening, myocardial infarction, new abnormal, new normal, perspective, psyche, psychotic, ramifications, reevaluate, refocus, surrender, unexpected tragedy, use your wounds as tools | 15 Comments

The Making of a Widow (Part 5)

Posted on November 3, 2016 by ivanbenson

Anyone who has watched a sporting event where the sidelines of the competition are crowded with spectators, has no doubt been witness to, at one time or another, what could fairly be termed collateral damage. I’m talking about the tackle … Continue reading →

Posted in Assisted Living, Family History, Podcast, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged basketball, before and after, brother, cameraman, cheerleaders, collateral damage, cousin, Facebook, father, football, friends, heart attack, husband, memories, Montana, neighbors, nephew, No man is an island, October 4, students | 8 Comments

The Making of a Widow (Part 4)

Posted on October 28, 2016 by ivanbenson

“Timing is everything.” It’s true in comedy; a vocally well delivered line can fall flat if the timing is off. Exactly when a pause is required, or an inflection employed can bring an audience to tears of laughter, or . … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged cardiologist, cath lab, coincidence, cousin, EKG, eulogized, father, Feb. 11 1961, general practitioner, Georgia, grandfather, harmonies, heart attack, ICU, intersections, LAD artery, maternal grandfather, musical composer, Oct. 3 2016, Oct. 4 2016, patterns, sense of timing, Snellville, timing, timing is everything, tombstones, unseen divine determinant | 2 Comments

The Making of a Widow (Part 3)

Posted on October 21, 2016 by ivanbenson

“It’s the little things,” people will sometimes say, “that make the difference.” Do you know what I mean? For instance, you’ll remember a momentous occasion (be it tragedy or celebration), but you will also remember some seemingly insignificant or off-the-wall … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1939, anticoagulant, burning sensation, cardiologist, cath lab nurse, fear, fire and rescue protocol, footnotes, good life, heart attack, heparin, ICU, it's the little things, lidocaine, low grade fever, memories, novacaine, rock climbing, sweating, vantage point, versed, worry | 2 Comments

The Making of a Widow (Part 2)

Posted on October 14, 2016 by ivanbenson

“Goodbye.” Many years ago I was intrigued to learn this common expression was a slang condensation of the phrase “God be with you.” Since that time we have shortened it even more to a simple, “Bye.” Sometimes you’ll hear people … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged clairvoyance, coma, farewell, finality, first responders, fully present, genuine, God be with you, goodbye, haunts, heart attack, Hello, Kermit the Frog, omission, Operating System, premonition | 10 Comments

The Making of a Widow (Part 1)

Posted on October 7, 2016 by ivanbenson

The Grim Reaper may or may not get an undeserved bad rap, but when a cardiologist reads an EKG and sees the telltale “tombstones” on the EKG paper he/she knows that a myocardial infarction has occurred, and that coronary heart … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged arrhythmia, beta blockers, cardiac cath, cardiologist, ejection fraction, EKG, Garrison Keillor, general practitioner, GP, Grim Reaper, LAD, left anterior descending, MI, myocardial infarction, nitroglycerin, pre diabetic, proximal LAD lesion, smell of death, STEMI, stent, tombstone tracing, Widow Maker | 38 Comments

Facial Profiling?

Posted on September 28, 2016 by ivanbenson

When I was in junior high school in the 1960s chains were really cool. All the tough guys liked to wear leather and have some type of silver chain hanging down out of their jeans pocket; you know, like the … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1960s, 1970s, 3:00 AM, being cool, Charlotte, Dallas, deadly force, facial profiling, Ferguson, Ford Mustang, gangstas, Happy Days, hoax, Jim Croce, misunderstood, police brutality, portrayal, profiled, prostitutes, racial profiling, suspicison, The Fonz, thug, tough guys, TPD, Tucson Police Department, tude, unjust | 9 Comments

Hiroshima Revisited: Out of the Ashes

Posted on September 13, 2016 by ivanbenson

Eight years, three months, and six days before I was prematurely born, an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later another was dropped on Nagasaki, and the Second World War was essentially over. All … Continue reading →

Posted in Stories, Uncategorized, World War II | Tagged atomic bomb, Austria, Britain, change, Civil War, colonization, concentration camp, emotions, feelings, German work camp, Germany, guilt, Hal Holbrook, Hiroshima, Japan, Jews, Mauthausen, Nagasaki, out of the ashes, perspective, pride, reason, shameful, Stone Mountain Park, thinking, truth, U.S.A. America, world war II, wrong | 8 Comments

Full Range of Motion

Posted on August 19, 2016 by ivanbenson

I love working out at the gym! Well . . . let me qualify that statement: sometimes I love working out at the gym. Other times I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck and just want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged anger, bench press, biceps, Chick-fil-A, death, depression, Disgust, emotion, exercise, fear, forward curl, full range of motion, grief, gym, hobbits, Inside Out, joy, live forever, Pete Docter, physique, results, Ronnie Del Carmen, Sadness, terminal illness, Tolkien, underbelly of life, weightlifting, working out | 4 Comments

Kicking the Pricks

Posted on August 8, 2016 by ivanbenson

I lost a friend last night; she died peacefully, surrounded by her family. And all of us, family and friends alike, are asking the question: “Why did she have to go like this?” This life presents interesting challenges, to say … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "God is good", acceptance, chronic illness, control, death, diet, disease, exercise, fairness, goads, Greek, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, injustice, job loss, kicking against the pricks, Serenity, suicide, the God of our understanding, thwarted plans, unjust, worldview | 4 Comments

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