A Physician’s Notebook

Reflections on medicine, faith, family, and what it means to be human.

Welcome, and thanks for being here. This is a place for physician reflections on medicine, faith, family, and the human person find a home. They come from a life in neurology, from years of listening closely, and from the quiet gratitude that has grown from that work. I hope you find something worth your time.

Why This Notebook Exists

After nearly forty years in neurology, I have come to believe that the most important stories in medicine are not only found in diagnoses, scans, or treatments. They are found in the lives of patients and families, in suffering and courage, in aging and mortality, in faith, gratitude, and love. I sat with people at some of the most difficult moments of their lives, and what I observed again and again was that the questions they were really asking had nothing to do with test results. They were asking what their suffering meant, whether they would be remembered, and whether the people they loved would be all right. This notebook is a place to gather those reflections, along with thoughts on family, legacy, and the things that endure.

Start with The Journal

The Journal is the best place to begin. It is where I write about medicine, faith, family, aging, mortality, and what it means to be human. The essays there come from a career spent at the bedside and in the clinic, from research, from conversations that stayed with me long after they ended, and from the quiet that retirement makes possible. Some essays are about neurology and the patients who shaped my understanding of it. Some are about faith and the questions that medicine raises but cannot answer. Some are about family and the ordinary moments that turn out to matter most. New reflections are added as they are ready.