Writer Brian Doyle’s son is unexpectedly born with a heart defect. Doyle reflects, a decade later,  about his memory of this diagnosis and subsequent surgeries in “How We Wrestle Is Who We Are.” He describes the heartbreaking clarity of that time, “thinking that his operations would either work or not and he would either live or die.” Faced with the potentially catastrophic outcomes of the situation, Doyle also asks himself some difficult, honest, heartrending questions. Do you agree with Doyle’s assertion that “what we want to be is never what we are?”

Writing Prompt: Consider a time when a loved one or patient was gravely ill. What thoughts and questions did you wrestle with? Consider writing a letter, as if to a friend or to yourself, about your struggle. Write for 10 minutes.