Hurricane in Heels — Kellie McRae

Three years ago, I embarked on a journey of knowledge and hard work that has taken me around the world. It changed my life, and I’d like to thank the academy and accept this award … wait, wait, wait!…

I woke up this morning and had to talk myself out of bed. I prepared my laundry for pickup, but then needed to lie down to catch my breath. On some days, the mere act of sitting up has…

When the doctor called and gave me the news of my diagnosis, I honestly felt that with a few meds, I’d be OK. As I look back on it now, I realize how ludicrous that idea is. I’ve always…

I pride myself on being a strong person. Over the years, however, my definition of strength has changed dramatically. When I was growing up in Chicago’s inner city, being strong meant never outwardly showing any fear. I’d fight for…

I think that whenever someone gets a life-changing medical diagnosis, their attitude is, “I’m going to beat it.” I could be wrong, but all the movies I’ve watched back me up (because movies are real), and this was the…

Learning a new skill is not easy. But you have an incentive to practice if it’s something you enjoy or find to be beneficial. I’m working on coping with my depression. I’ve discovered that if I want to be…

At one point when I was growing up, church was a fact of life. I learned that people tend to look to spiritual things more when life becomes difficult, or as I like to say, when we are…

I was a workaholic; I don’t have a hard time admitting that. Part of me was proud of my work ethic — after all, I was dubbed “Hurricane” because I worked circles around everyone else. Now I have…

Living abroad was something I always wanted to do. When you move abroad, it seems people are a bit fascinated with you, and when you move abroad with health challenges, that heightens the fascination. Getting lupus made me witness…

I think that every time I’ve shared an article lately, I’ve talked about symptoms of lupus related to mental health. While I don’t particularly care for the pain, the fatigue, or the physical afflictions of lupus, the things that…

Many of us are frequently told, “You don’t look sick.” We can find that comment a little off-putting. While we recognize that it’s someone’s way of saying that we look “good” or “well,” that’s not how we feel…

Many of us grew up with nicknames. Later, working in the real estate industry, it was common for people to adopt nicknames that helped promote their businesses. Because I never stopped working, one day my broker called me a…