Yesterday the world lost a shining light, much too soon. @marjoriesue’s life was marked by tragedy – widowed early with two young children, then metastatic cancer – but she radiated joy and empathy and was an astonishingly gifted writer. In memoriam, some of my favorite pieces:
Margi was a pediatrician, writer, friend, researcher and community activist, but also a single mom who raised two extraordinary young women. Here, she wrote nicer words about other people's mothers (including mine @renalis) than I have ever said to my own: https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2017/05/12/mothers-day-marjorie-s-rosenthal
In Sickness And In Health, Thanking My Many Mothers

Please pick up your virtual chocolate Oscar, mothers, writes Marjorie S. Rosenthal. You are all superstars in my heart.

https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2017/05/12/mothers-day-marjorie-s-rosenthal
On dating while on chemo https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/style/modern-love-widow-cancer-break-up-with-me.html
‘You Should Break Up With Me’

Life can be fleeting. She wanted to make sure he knew the risks of connection.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/style/modern-love-widow-cancer-break-up-with-me.html
On baby birds and empty nests https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/opinions/empty-nest-taking-kids-to-college-rosenthal/index.html
Having an empty nest isn't what I expected

For Marjorie Rosenthal, her daughter moving to college at the end of the summer -- even with their complicated family story -- felt like a joyful, mundane event. But like childbirth and first steps,...

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/opinions/empty-nest-taking-kids-to-college-rosenthal/index.html
On getting bad news instead of giving bad news https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/well/how-to-give-bad-news.html
How to Give Bad News

After 25 years as a pediatrician, I know my doctor is very good at giving bad news.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/well/how-to-give-bad-news.html
On how to truthfully remember a deceased loved one, set in the context of a (different) plague; this one is especially poignant to re-read right now https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/blood-plagues-hiv
My Daughters’ Dad Is Dead, but a Long Car Ride, Like Much Else, Makes Me Think of Him

It was Passover and, like our ancestors before us, we were traveling. We would arrive at my mother’s apartment late on Friday night, in time to help with Saturday’s set up. My mother has her big...

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/blood-plagues-hiv
On adapting to a cancer diagnosis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28973150/ 
On adapting to a cancer diagnosis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28973150/ 
On adapting to a cancer diagnosis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28973150/ 
On connecting at a distance https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/well/live/doctors-patients-mother-baby-pediatrics-telemedicine-computers.html
The New Language of Telehealth

Telemedicine is teaching us new ways to communicate with our patients.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/well/live/doctors-patients-mother-baby-pediatrics-telemedicine-computers.html
On why parenting (and quality improvement) is like my favorite movie https://medium.com/@marjorie.rosenthal/parenting-through-groundhog-day-3570e568c2f2
How quality improvement cycles belong in parenting, our most intimate nurturing relationships

At some point in the haze of cleaning mac and cheese off the floor, I realized that everyday my children presented me with pretty much the same conundrums they did the day before. When they were…

https://medium.com/@marjorie.rosenthal/parenting-through-groundhog-day-3570e568c2f2
On relating differently to patients as a single parent https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16820535/ 
On relating differently to patients as a single parent https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16820535/ 
On relating differently to patients as a single parent https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16820535/ 
On the misguided push to encourage patients to shame doctors and nurses into washing their hands https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2016/04/15/hand-washing
She Wiped Her Nose, Then Prepped My Biopsy. Still, It’s Hard To Ask The Nurse To Wash Her Hands

I worried that the blood infection was my fault because I didn’t insist the nurse wash her hands as soon as I saw her rub her nose.

https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2016/04/15/hand-washing
In her writing, fairly bursting with a deep love and compassion for others, she leaves an indelible gift to her daughters, family, friends and countless strangers: a deeply personal record of who she really was.
I wish you all had had the privilege of knowing her in person. But I know her writing will make her memory a blessing for many beyond her many friends. @muffysart @lesliecyale @joshmoejo @lfiellin @thehowie @nicoleFluhr @hkgn @EmilyMelnick7 @JsscHlhn
You can follow @leorahorwitzmd.
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