Jordan’s Journey

It feels diabolical. Before you break the capsule, you have to put on latex gloves. The contents are toxic. When it splits open, the poison snows out in a powdery dust that quickly disappears into a marsh of apple sauce. The best way to conceal any hint of the drug’s bitter taste is to throw in a dash of candy sprinkles. Once added, the mixture stains from pale yellow to electric blue. Although it’s a doctor-prescribed treatment, the scene plays out like a chapter from a dime-store crime novel — scheming in the kitchen, a twisted, deranged parent poisons an evening snack to quietly finish off a child. But this is a different sort of master plan. It is Jordan’s nightly dose of healing, a chemotherapy dessert. (more…)

“Read ‘Red, but Not So Dead’,” Lucas begged enthusiastically.

It is the title of an article about the discovery of methane gas on Mars. He chomps on a wedge of “sunrise quesadilla”, a breakfast he requested; tortilla grilled with cheese and scrambled eggs. He half-stands in his chair, one knee bent upon the seat while the other straddles the floor. It is his normal dining posture, though it drives his mother crazy.

Jordan sips her tea, nods approval, then adds her own request.

“Yah, then read the one about the cranberries.”

It is Tuesday, and our breakfast is a feast of discovery. Tuesdays are when the New York Times publishes Science Times. We read it together, serving reports of innovation with a side of bacon. (more…)

Normal is what you make of it. That which seems boring and sedentary to one human being might summon adrenaline in another. Though nothing in our life is as it was a little over a month ago, a feeling of normality has returned to our family. The days are over-saturated with activities. The kids quarrel, then play, then quarrel again. And Jordan’s indomitable personality holds court upon our house as it has for more than six years. Life at the Vincent homestead feels eerily uninterrupted. Little would anyone know that we have joined a secret society, leading alternative lives. (more…)