My pulse beats, reminding me to live each minute of my life with enthusiasm and strength.My pulse beats, reminding me that with each passing minute I move one step closer to mortality. My pulse beats, reminding me to take nothing–and no one–for granted.
Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine has allowed me to hear my pulse with more clarity and to live my life with more meaning. It has motivated me to reflect upon my life, to embrace each challenge with courage, to find comfort in knowing that others also endure tarnished moments and share my “growing old” dilemma. It has given me the opportunity to express my innermost thoughts about family, about frightening moments, about short- and long-term ailments and to experience the relief that comes from confronting a problem and voicing my emotions to the best of my ability. It has given me a community: the editors of the online magazine, the other writers who contribute their own stories, and the readers who respond to what I have written.
Because of Pulse, I not only have grown as a writer, but also have looked inward to honestly face my demons and try to deal with my past, present and future in the best way possible. Because of Pulse, I have spent time with my beloved grandma, mother and father–individuals who supported me with unconditional love when they were alive and who continue to be with me even now that they are gone. Because of Pulse, I have a better sense of my self and my place in the world.
Ten years represent but a moment in our lives, yet for ten years Pulse has enhanced my life. Its stories touch my heart; they stay with me long after I have read them and responded to them. It shows me a human and humane side of medicine that visits to my physicians, blood tests and x-rays, illnesses and hospitalizations often obscure. Because of Pulse, the word “medicine” no longer evokes images of the monster under the bed, but instead has become a benign word rooted in care and love.
May Pulse continue to beat, bringing insight, solace, and hope to all of us associated with it.
Ronna Edelstein
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
