Local Doc on the Block
I was shocked to see a fresh layer of snow on the car. Already struggling with the bitingly cold temperature and running a few minutes late, I held an apple between my teeth and stepped out my front door. The street lay quiet and clean in the snow, and...
[Originally published in 2008. Today marks Sonia’s 29th birthday. Happy birthday, Sonia; we still miss you.] I watched the grainy, blocky video in silence. My friend was singing “Landslide” and I felt a certain tautness in my eyebrows and a peculiar heaviness in the corners of my mouth. By now...
“Who are you going to jump?” I asked sharply. “Look me in the eye and tell me.” He couldn’t do it. We kept talking in circles, getting more and more frustrated. There was big talk earlier about it, about banding together with friends to beat up some kid. I had...
Hi! Fellow urban dweller here, guest blogging for the DISPLACEMENT series. In light of the Prez’s upcoming re-inauguration, here is a reflection on my first voting experience in North Philly, originally written this past election. I received invites from two bloggers named Dave (one in Delaware, one in California) to...
“A-dunk-a-dunk-a-dunk-achino!” The kid did some 70’s move as he sang and swiveled his knees. I was a little stunned. “Have you ever seen Jack and Jill?” he asked. Still stunned. “Uh, no?” “You know Al Pacino?” “Uh, yeah?” “In the movie, he does this commercial for Dunkin’ Donuts, and this...
After a brutal series of Christmas shifts in the ER, I had finally come home for the holidays. My mother and I were in the kitchen, talking like we used to. We had seen and loved the new Les Miserables film, and so I brought up an interesting question from...
I originally wrote the following passage for a Good Friday reflection in 2007, unknowingly done one week before the Virginia Tech shooting. The intent in re-posting here is not to lessen the tragedy of what has just occurred in Connecticut, but to speak truth about how little has changed five...
This author is DM, a nurse practitioner living in North Philadelphia, and one of the sources of living inspiration for what I am doing now. This is part of our Displacement series. If you would like to contribute a story of your own, send an e-mail to submissions@theurbanresident.com. — Whenever...
