Blackbirdan online journal of literature and the artsSpring 2018  Vol. 17 No. 1
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an online journal of literature and the arts
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OBIT

Hope—died on October 15, 2014 when the FDA approved two drugs, Esbriet and Ofev, for pulmonary fibrosis. I did what I was trained to do, researched, read, asked questions. I taped articles to my wall that now look like tombstones. Hope is the wildest bird, the one that flies so fast it will either disappear or burst into flames. On my mug from Japan, it says Enjoy the Happiness Time. As if it knows happiness is attached to time somehow. The drugs could slow down the disease but not reverse it. We chose hospice. In my child’s homework: Which of the following happens eventually? a) you are born, b) you die, c) a long winter comes to an end, d) practice makes perfect. I no longer know how to answer this.