Sometimes people lose massive amounts of themselves in a stroke, like movement of a whole body side or talking altogether. But when small arteries shut down by themselves, they dry up little villages of function. Raymond’s stroke, in his language department, took out all his English. The Ojibway he was raised with stuck. His daughter translated. We got through the  appointment. Pretty frustrating.  Like you still get the newspaper, but your mail is held at the post office and you can’t seem to get a ride over there.

In Medical Humanities 35, 2, 2009.