KNEE BRACE PRESS

A place for stories about chronic illness, disability, mental health, and neurodivergence.

Constant Reminder

By

Hello, Survivor, it’s me, your Constant Reminder. I am your memento mori. You don’t need a damn skull on your desk to remember your mortality. You tell yourself I’m just abdominal adhesions—we both know I’m here to tell you, what happened before could happen again. You fret about the why when knowing why wouldn’t mean you could avoid it in the future, or if you knew why, whether there would be a damn thing you could do about it.

We need each other, you know. I exist only as long as you feel me. And I grab you from the inside to say what you need to hear: Live life! Laugh! Let your people know that you love them. Tempus Fugit, my friend.

Contributor

  • Phil Scearce is a husband, father, cat dad, and ally. He is a cancer survivor with NED since a radical right nephrectomy in 2019, living with reduced function in his remaining kidney. He earned his BA from the University of North Carolina and completed an MFA through the Mountainview Low Residency Program. His first book, Finish Forty and Home (UNT Press, 2011) won First Place – Literary Excellence at the 2010 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference.