Hold Me Closer, Tiny Cancer
It all started in 2022 with a Christmas dinner I was cooking. It was a family recipe, a hearty soup made with layers of toasted Italian bread, shredded chicken, mozzarella cheese, then the layers repeated. It's delicious comfort food. But my wife Marie came into the kitchen and asked (sternly), “What are you doing?” I was bewildered. “I’m baking the soup.” “You’re BURNING it! Can’t you smell that?” Actually, I could not. I couldn’t smell a thing, not even the usual pleasant aromas of this dish, as the cheese and bread baked to a golden brown on top. But I had an explanation for this. Months earlier I attended my fiftieth high school reunion ( oh, how it pains me to admit that ), and as a memento, I took home a mild case of Covid. A little fatigue, no fever, and it was knocked out of me with a little Paxlovid. So I just figured I had long Covid, which affected my sense of smell. Oh, how I wish now that was all it was. Heading into 2023, not only was my sense of smell not returning,...