Irish America

My Health Story

Sisters Sharing Musical Talent and Health Issues

By Kara Rota, Contributor
August / September 2013

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Joyce and Ruth O’Leary are your average pair of young Irish sisters in their early twenties. They share outfits, finish each other’s sentences, and cheer each other up when one is having a hard day. There’s just one difference: together, Joyce and Ruth make up Sephira, an Irish crossover act that combines passionate violin playing, ethereal singing and showstopping choreography … [Read more...] about Sisters Sharing Musical Talent and Health Issues

Comfortable in My Own Skin

By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons, Contributor
August / September 2013

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After a diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma at age twenty-eight, Emma Graves Fitzsimmons got smart about being in the sun. I wish I could say that I’ve always appreciated my porcelain skin. But for as long as I can remember, I’ve preferred the way I look with a tan and longed to be outdoors with the sun’s rays on my face. That all changed when I was diagnosed with basal cell … [Read more...] about Comfortable in My Own Skin

Finding the Other: The Metamorphosis and Compassion

By Molly McCloskey, Contributor
August / September 2013

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Molly McCloskey, the author of Circles Around the Sun, shares how one profound reading experience led her to better understand her older brother who suffers from schizophrenia. I can still recall, in the way one recalls the most powerful reading experiences of one’s life, lying on the bed in my studio apartment in Portland, Oregon, and reading “The Metamorphosis” for the first … [Read more...] about Finding the Other: The Metamorphosis and Compassion