Salting the Earth
“Gordon, are you sure you don’t want Molly or one of your children here with you?” Dr. Bartle had been my physician for 15 years. From his gentle tone and hesitant manner, I knew that this wasn’t a persistent flu or something similar. I’d been losing weight, had steady abdominal pain and off and on nausea for more than a month. The kids were out of the house and doing well in their careers and Molly was out of town helping her mother deal with the estate of her recently deceased...