In 2007, a couple of days after my last chemotherapy treatment, I was riding in a bus along the unspoiled, completely undeveloped white sand and turquoise waters of Cuba’s Matanzas province. It was late November and I was intoxicated by the sun, the water, the beauty of the place. I wasn't unwell but quite groggy and I laid my head against the window, not chatting with my tour group but ogling kilometro after kilometro of perfectly empty, postcard-worthy shoreline. Occasi

My friend is graduating from high school this year, and like me, she turned 18 in the days just before donning her cap and gown; two momentous occasions in the space of a fortnight. Talking with her and celebrating our birthdays together has got me thinking about how the events of 1978 -- the year I turned 18 and graduated from high school -- and 2009, the year my friend is doing those things, are similar and how they’re different. I’m also thinking about this weekend’s U