Four months after a concussion, I lay on the sofa wondering if I would be useless for the rest of my life. My thirty-year-old mute son glanced up from the floor where he was sitting, tearing up pages from a catalogue, and tucked a piece of paper into my hand. I stared at a photo of a pendant inscribed with the words, “Never, never, never give up.” The endless days battling doctors who didn’t understand and insurance that wouldn’t pay floated away, and a bright glow of determination filled my chest. “Okay.” I smiled and kissed his cheek. “I will.”
Angela Lam is an artist and writer. She sells her artwork at Made Local Marketplace and teaches creative writing at Gotham Writers Workshop.