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Christen O'Brien
Christen O'Brien

3.1K Followers

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Published in

Human Parts

·Pinned

What It Felt Like to Almost Die

My near-death experience taught me not to fear those final moments — I remember the very instant the blood clot careened into my heart. The palpitations were like nothing I’d ever felt, and the taste of blood filled my mouth. Milliseconds later, like a ricochet of bullets, the clot exploded in my lungs. I fell to the ground, gasping for air, each…

Death

7 min read

What It Felt Like to Almost Die
What It Felt Like to Almost Die
Death

7 min read


Aug 27, 2021

My Brush with Anthony Bourdain

“Tony wears fucking espadrilles now!”, she said to me as the three of us huddled together at the after-party, her voice laden with humor and frustration, and sadness. Lydia Tenaglia and Chris Collins were the ones who put Anthony Bourdain on television. They were the ones who brought “No Reservations”…

Anthony Bourdain

4 min read

My Brush with Anthony Bourdain
My Brush with Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain

4 min read


Aug 18, 2021

As I Stood on the Edge of Death

Imagine being pushed into a pool. Perhaps a memory you have of childhood summers, that frozen moment in time when you are suspended between air and water. Between two places, the ground where control seemed possible and the absence of it where you learned it was not. Did you feel…

Mwc Death

8 min read

As I Stood on the Edge of Death
As I Stood on the Edge of Death
Mwc Death

8 min read


May 17, 2021

How to Lose Your Best Friend

No one tells you what it’s like to put your dog down, to lay with your best friend as they take their last breath. No one tells you how it feels to go through the final years by their side, to watch their body weaken against their will. To run…

Dogs

12 min read

How to Lose Your Best Friend
How to Lose Your Best Friend
Dogs

12 min read


Dec 12, 2020

The Truth About His Divorce

The beginning of the actual divorce long predated the beginning of the legal one. You could say it started when his business sank into oblivion, and like a determined sea captain refusing to abandon ship, he submerged with it. But really, the divorce began long before that. Starting his own…

Divorce

15 min read

The Truth About His Divorce
The Truth About His Divorce
Divorce

15 min read


Jul 11, 2020

We Are Made of Stars: A Look at Human Ashes Under a High Powered Microscope

Everything changed for Gabriela Reyes Fuchs the day she got that phone call from her Father. A physician who saved many lives during his long and successful career, now his own life was at stake. He had been diagnosed with Leukemia, and things didn’t look good. …

Life

6 min read

We Are Made of Stars: A Look at Human Ashes Under a High Powered Microscope
We Are Made of Stars: A Look at Human Ashes Under a High Powered Microscope
Life

6 min read


Jun 10, 2020

I Ignored My White Privilege in a Mixed Race Family

In my high school class, I was the only white O’Brien. My Aunt Judy had adopted seven children from Brazil many years earlier, two of whom were black Afro-Brazilians. When the teacher took attendance, she struggled to pronounce their names correctly. In our yearbook photos, they’re pictured surrounded by a…

BlackLivesMatter

4 min read

I Ignored My White Privilege in a Mixed Race Family
I Ignored My White Privilege in a Mixed Race Family
BlackLivesMatter

4 min read


Published in

Human Parts

·May 29, 2020

My Dog Lay With Me at the Hour of My Death

She helped me survive with a new understanding of the world around us — The day I almost died, my dog was at my side. Now in her final stage of life, I pay tribute to her by sharing what she did as I lay dying, in hopes it helps others find meaning through these, and all, difficult times. Virginia changed my life. She…

Pets

8 min read

My Dog Lay With Me at the Hour of My Death
My Dog Lay With Me at the Hour of My Death
Pets

8 min read


Apr 11, 2020

We’re All Living in a Spaceship Now: The Oddity of Our Pandemic POV

“This is Major Tom to Ground Control I’m steppin’ through the door And I’m floating in the most peculiar way And the stars look very different today. For here am I sittin’ in a tin can Far above the world Planet earth is blue And there’s nothin’ I can do… …

Coronavirus

4 min read

We’re All Living in a Spaceship Now: The Oddity of Our Pandemic POV
We’re All Living in a Spaceship Now: The Oddity of Our Pandemic POV
Coronavirus

4 min read


Jan 29, 2020

Why We Struggle to Talk About Death

It wasn’t until I almost died that I began to understand death. After surviving a massive pulmonary embolism that the E.R. physician described as “a miracle I’ll be talking about for the rest of my medical career”, an inexplicable switch flipped in my consciousness. …

Death

5 min read

Why We Struggle to Talk About Death
Why We Struggle to Talk About Death
Death

5 min read

Christen O'Brien

Christen O'Brien

3.1K Followers

Writer & Collector of life stories. Work featured on The Today Show, NYT, CNN, MSNBC, Medium. Documentary coming out 2022. (www.christenobrien.com)

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