Pillow, Jeffrey. A Greater Plan: A Son Remembers his Dad on Father’s
Day. Printed in Ruse the Magazine, The Lynchburg Ledger, and the
Southside Messenger. 19 July 2009. Excerpt: Not in the least do I
find a tinge of coincidence that my first full day as a husband, as
the head of a household and of my own new family, is the same day as
Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21—a day, which, as I awake, I will
reflect on the great man, husband, and father my own dad was: to his
parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, my mother, and his children,
Jennifer and me. When I proposed to my girlfriend of nearly two
years, Allison Watkins, the weekend of the Martin Luther King, Jr.
holiday, Saturday, January 17, 2009, it never occurred to me that in
less than two months, Friday, March 13, my dad would begin the fight
of his life as he was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
(AML).
Pillow,
Jeffrey. Rebels With a Cause. URGE Magazine. Winter 2008. "In
1987, an 11-year-old boy was diagnosed with HIV...." Excerpt:
Published in 2006 by Penguin Group (USA), Decker's memoir, "My Pet
Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure," is not a book you
would expect from someone given a death sentence before he even hit
puberty. But reading Decker's story gives an immediate glimpse into
the author's everlasting character.
"My story is the American story, just injected with HIV," Decker
says.
"I wanted it to be me, to be funny. Not depressing. Here's this guy
who says he was destined for a medical drama from day one. Born in
the month of July with a horoscope sign that's a disease (Cancer),
the symbol of cancer, a crab--a sexually transmitted little critter,
and my parents bestowed upon me the name Shawn Timothy Decker,
which, you guessed it, is the acronym S.T.D." |
