Oh heavens, Elisabeth. I never trust Grammarly but then, I'm lazy. To your point, though. Two weekends ago my beloved buddy Dr Rosenna Bakari sends me her new book to proofread. Two things happen: as is typical of her incandescent writing I was so goddamned distracted by the intensity of the message that I had a hard time focusing on the proofreading. I caught a few. Then afterwards we were laughing because five of the six people she tasked with being the Extra Eyeballs on her work missed the One Word nobody but that one person saw. My grammar is excellent, AND. I write 140 wpm, punch out up to three or even four articles a day, and I guaran-damn-tee you there are mistakes. Subjects and verbs that don't dance well together. That's why I constantly go back and re-read after I publish. Even then I have a few angels who are kind enough to catch the escapees. Writing is a community effort. I'm a decent editor of my own stuff, but I surely do appreciate it when someone is kind enough to catch the inevitable.

This was a hard piece to read, but perfectly understandable. This past weekend would have been my big brother's 70th birthday. He took his life in an horrific way. While our relationship was difficult (he was a predator when I was a child), I still am aware of his departure. My life of adventure travel is in many ways a statement of living what he did not finish. There is something intensely true about living well for those who didn't make it. If that doesn't teach us a lesson, nothing will. Write on.