Reader's Digest May 2014

I WAS RECENTLY INSPIRED to think about sound, thanks to Trevor Cox’s story in this issue (see page 82). I’d never considered the isolated sense of hearing outside the context of music and noise (“Can you please turn that television down?!”). So one afternoon I went for a walk and asked myself, What are my sonic memories? Perhaps you’ll be inspired to do the same. I’m a kid in the backseat of the family car. I hear the confident knock of my father’s class ring on the steering wheel. I love this sound. I’m a girl preparing for a piano recital. I hear the steady click of the metronome keeping me in perfect time. I resent this sound. I’m a traveler who’s walked right up to the edge of Exit…

CHILLING MEDICAL DRAMA One spring, I thought I had the flu, but my head started to pound, and I felt like I could die. I went to the hospital, and doctors quarantined me and did a spinal tap. The pain immediately stopped. They concluded that I had contracted viral meningitis and told me if I hadn’t received that spinal tap, I might not have survived. Trust your instincts, and if something doesn’t feel right, go to the hospital. CINDY MCEVOY, Lake Grove, New York ADVOCATE FOR AA If Ms. Glaser had spent any time in the rooms of AA, she would have witnessed all that she admires in the other recovery programs discussed (“Sobering Up”): women empowered, healed, and accepting personal responsibility for their lives without the continued use of…

AARON TOTTEN, 16, had almost made it home from Central High School in Rapid City, South Dakota, when he realized he was missing something crucial: his daily bag of Cheetos. The high school junior made a U-turn in his Ford Expedition and beelined to a store for his favorite junk food fix. As Aaron drove north in the left lane of Elk Vale Road, a Kia Rio abruptly swerved into him, sideswiping him on the right. Instantly, Aaron lost control and barreled across the median into oncoming traffic, hitting another SUV head-on at about 55 miles per hour. The crash flipped the Expedition end over end down an embankment, where it finally skidded to a stop on the driver’s side. Horrified motorists watched as flames leaped from the car’s exposed…

LAST OCTOBER, three weeks after Miguel Alvarez started a stint as a janitor at a senior-care center, his job took a dramatic turn. Instead of mopping floors, Miguel, 33, a former stay-at-home dad, was thrust into the role of primary caregiver for the 19 elderly residents living at the center. On October 24, 2013, the state department of social services closed the center—Valley Springs Manor, located in Castro Valley, California—citing numerous health and safety violations. Most of the staff walked out—except Miguel and the center’s cook, Maurice Rowland. “I felt bad for the seniors, so I helped them,” Miguel says. Unable to find contact information for the residents’ families, Miguel and Maurice themselves assisted the needy patients, some of whom were confined to beds or wheelchairs. Others reportedly had dementia.…

RECENTLY, I WAS TRYING to remember my wedding vows. I don’t recall much other than that my wife looked prettier than Grace Kelly (a disturbing thought since women who look like Grace Kelly generally do not stay married to men who look like me, unless we own small aircraft). Yet I do recall our uttering something about sickness and health. These were my thoughts, nine years later, as I lay on the couch and took abuse from my wife. “You’re not sick,” Princess Grace said. “I am,” I said. “I might die.” “Your back hurts,” she said. “It’s not like you have cancer.” “You promised to tend my infirmities.” I don’t know how it happened: I woke one morning and was unable to stand fully upright. It felt as though…

IF SOMEONE FROM the 1950s suddenly appeared, what would be the most difficult thing to explain about life today? One answer: “I possess a device in my pocket that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and get into arguments with strangers.” Source: reddit.com WE HAD JUST finished tucking our five kids into bed when three-year-old Billy began to wail. Turns out, he had accidentally swallowed a penny and was sure he was going to die. Desperate to calm him, my husband palmed a penny that he had in his pocket and pretended to pull it from Billy’s ear. Billy was delighted. In a flash, he snatched it from my husband’s hand, swallowed it, and demanded, “Do…