When you get a letter in a self-addressed envelope from a literary magazine, the one you submitted to in a contest, you know you are getting a rejection letter. I thought it was a pretty compelling story – about a guy who has a hole in his heart plugged because he keeps having strokes. Mixed in with the drama is the after burn from Canada’s gold medal hockey win, a GQ surgeon, a well meaning nurse who clips pubic hair in the operating theater, a soft spoken Hafiz like cardiology intern and the unanticipated depression when your heart gets touched.

Event Magazine wrote, “Unfortunately, your work has not been selected to be forwarded for final judging.” It’s easy to take rejection when the only reason you wrote it was to heal from your experience. So, I’m OK with it.