Nystrom, Dick

Reflections on Haiti: The search for strength and courage (Fall/Winter 2010)

I had gone to Haiti as a member of one of the many medical teams that began to arrive soon after the January 2010 earthquake, which claimed 230,000 lives. In the days to follow I watched as Haitians young and old waited under the hot sun for their turn to see the doctor, some with injuries that had not yet healed and others simply looking weary to the bone. And yet there was a quiet dignity about the people, even as they waited in the mud while dogs and goats rummaged through the medical waste that piled up outside the clinic door.

The sound of a wooden bell (Spring/Summer 2020)

One Saturday morning many years ago, I was having breakfast with Jim and another friend in a Chicago neighborhood restaurant, when suddenly a loud and alarming sound came from the kitchen. We looked at each other as if to say, ‘what should we do?’ when one of our number jumped up and dashed out the front door. Another of us simply remained seated. Jim however, leapt to his feet and headed for the kitchen. In the years to follow I would come to realize that this little incident was indicative of how Jim chose to live his life.