Tag Archives: life

Cancerversary

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Callen Harty

One year ago today, sometime after 2:00 in the morning, I woke up my partner, Brian, and told him I felt I needed to go to the emergency room due to severe abdominal pains. I had just taken three consecutive … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alcohol recovery, biopsy, brain aneurism, cancer, Cancerversary, chemotherapy, child sex abuse, colon, colonoscopy, colostomy, complications, constipation, Covid, CT scan, death, Devil's Lake State Park, diagnosis, diverticulitis, Dr. King, drains, edema, emergency room, fear, health, heart attack, heart issues, hiking, ICD, ICU, ileostomy, implantable carioverter defibrillator, infection, IV, life, liquid diet, living, love, lymph nodes, Meriter Hospital, natural causes, near-death, oncologist, opertion, ostomy, oxygen, pain, physical therapy, positive energy, recovery, rehabilitation, sickness, Spring, stricture, support, surgeon, survival, survivor, tachycardia, tumor markers, X-ray | Leave a comment

A Walk in the Woods

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Callen Harty

Today was a perfect day for a spring walk. It was about 60 degrees in Wisconsin and sunny a day before we’re scheduled to be under the threat of rain for the rest of the week. Last year, due to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animals, cancer, Christians, circles, community, cycles, death, deer, desert, eagles, energy, heart, Heaven, hike, humanity, land, landscapes, life, light, love, nature, plants, prairie, rain, rebirth, reincarnation, seasons, soul, spirit, spirtuality, tree, tundra, universe, walk, Wisconsin, woods | Leave a comment

Thank God for the Insurance I Hate

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Callen Harty

Resting in a hospital bed in the middle of the night gives one a chance to ponder many things. Due to multiple heart conditions over the years, I have had time to do the standard processing that may come with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Americans, campaign gifts, cleaning people, colon cancer, colostomy bag, death, doctors, emergency room, health insurance, heart condition, Homeless, hospital, insurance, insurance plans, life, medicine, money, nurses, politicians, public health care, shareholders, surgeons, surgery, United States | Leave a comment

Emotional Distancing

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Callen Harty

Apparently I did not know how much fear, stress, and anxiety had built up within me over the last year, but apparently it was there all along. Not only was I socially distancing, but I was also emotionally distancing. While … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anger, anxiety, appointments, BMI, body mass index, Catholic guilt, Covid, disease, eligibility, empathy, envy, fear, feelings, frustration, health care, health conditions, heart condition, hug, human beings, jealous, lesson, life, love, pandemic, pharmacy, pre-existing conditions, relief, social distancing, stress, survivor, uncertainty, vaccine, virus, wait list, waiting, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Still Beating

Posted on December 13, 2020 by Callen Harty

A year ago this afternoon, I was at my desk in the office where I work. I had just taken a sip of a soda and started to feel a bit off. When I stood up I felt a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged beats per minute, blood pressure, defibrillator, disease, doctor, drug regimen, electrocardiogram, emergency room, family, friends, heart, heart attack, heart catheterization, heart disease, ICD, implantable cardioverter defibrillator, ischemic cardiomyopathy, laugh, life, love, medication, miracle, nurse, pacemaker, pulse, resting heart rate, sedation, stent, stress, technology, ventricles, ventricular tachycardia | Leave a comment

Mortality

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Callen Harty

Lately, even before this last weekend, mortality has been on my mind. My partner, Brian, has been talking about the fact that we’re getting older and how he worries about me because of already surviving a heart attack a decade … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged appreciate, be, blockage, Brendan Hartmann, Brian WIld, brother, car wreck, coronary, death, depressed, existence, fatal, fathers, friends, friendships, gentle soul, goodness, grandmothers, grandparents, harassed, hardships, heart attack, help, honor, Hospice, jobs, kindness, life, listen, love, lovers, memories, mortality, mothers, near-death, next realm, old, police, potential, psomise, quality time, reconnect, rock bottom, St. Louis, young | 6 Comments

Cliff walk, Ardmore

Posted on August 6, 2019 by Callen Harty

Rounding hills, we drove into Ardmore town, down a street lined with walls of alternating colors, a post office, small shops, a tavern, and the wild waters of the Atlantic splashing upon the windshield. I came searching for connection and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, ancestry, Ardmore, Atlantic, Biddy Harty, Cliff walk, death, dust, earth, generation, graves, great-great-grandfather, great-great-grandmother, Harty, legends, life, ocean, saints, sea, Siobhan, song thrush, tower, town historian, water, Waterford City | 1 Comment

Two years after

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Callen Harty

Two years after Before you were gone you were gone. Your eyes, already looking toward heaven, could not look at me and know who I was, though love still glimmered in those deep brown orbs. Before you passed your past … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged abstractions, ancestors, being, breath, children, dead, essence, Heaven, images, joy, life, love, memories, memory, mysteries, passed, past, secrets, wonder | Leave a comment

Pride (and Prejudice)

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Callen Harty

So far, this year’s Pride Month has been a bizarre microcosm of living life as a queer person in the United States, and our experience is a microcosm of minority communities in general. This month, the queer community has … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged abortion, African-American, allies, America, Black lives matter, black trans women, bombing, Capitol, Dallas, death, Detroit, Dignity, discrimination, Donald Trump, equal rights, Equal Rights Amendment, equality, gender, Governor Tony Evers, hate groups, hatred, homophobes, human being, immigrants, Israeli, Jew, LGBT community, life, love, marginalized communities, mass shooting, minority communities, mosque, Muslim, Nazis, politcal gains, politcal losses, prejudice, pride, pride month, privileged class, progress, queer, race, racist, rainbow flag, religion, right to vote, right-wingers, rights, same-sex couples, status quo, struggle, suicidal, trans, United States, Wisconsin, women | Leave a comment

Proud

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Callen Harty

Twenty years ago I was working at OutReach, which is Madison, Wisconsin’s LGBT Community Center. I was also heavily involved at Broom Street Theater, a unique theater company that produces nothing but original works. I was an actor, director, and playwright … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged actor, age, angst, Art & Soul Innovations, audiences, Brian WIld, Broom Street Theater, bullying, changed lives, coming out, confusion, Crown Point, director, Eau Claire, emotion, equality, family, feelings, first loves, friends, gays, Green Bay, harassment, hate, ideas, identities, Indiana, joy, laughter, lesbians, LGBT, LGBT Community Center, LGBT rights, life, love, Madison, mentor, mentors, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, non-profit, opinion, OutReach, performance, Platteville, plays, playwright, Pride Youth Theater Alliance, Proud Theater, queer, queer youth theater, reality, River Falls, sexual assault, shyness, skit, Sol Kelley-Jones, stage, suicide, Sun Prairie, Sunshine Jones, survivor stories, teen years, theater, transgender, Wausau, Wisconsin, wonder, youth | 2 Comments

Not Yet Numb

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Callen Harty

Somehow, I am not yet numb. While watching a teenage girl talk about a boy in her high school class giving his life to save others, tears come into my eyes and my swallowing becomes difficult. So I realize I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC News, ACT, Alabama, Baltimore, Baltimore Sun, bomb threats, bombings, child, copy, David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, fear, feel, Fox News, hatred, heroes, high school, killings, life, Los Angeles Times, mass shootings, media, murder, New York Daily News, peace, politicians, school, shootings, terrorism, Texas, Yahoo Sports | Leave a comment

30 Years

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Callen Harty

This week (April 18) marks 30 years since my last drink. Thirty years ago, late at night (or early in the morning) I had an epiphany in a bar in Denver and realized I had to quit drinking or I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alcoholic, alone, bar, beer, brandy Coke, child sex abuse, chilhood, Denver, drink, drinking, drunk, embarrassment, guilt, hatred, healing journey, hurt, isolated, jobs, life, pain, party, reality, relationshiops, secret, self-medicating, shame, shy, sober, social | Leave a comment