The Story

Ruth Morris’ father, Ian Morris, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2002. He fought it, but in the fall of 2008, the former runner and pilot realized he was going to die. He didn’t want to die in Boston, where he’d spent his last few years – he wanted to die in California, the place he knew as home. Ruth talks with Dick Gordon about how her family decided to drive a van across the country to help her dying father find the warmth and landscape he loved.

Heather and Greg Mroz can certainly appreciate the health care debate. The two have been insured and uninsured at different times in their lives. Earlier this year Greg was laid off. Knowing Heather was pregnant with twins, he arranged to continue their coverage with the same provider. They paid insurance premiums directly to the company. The insurer took the money, but after the delivery, they refused to pay the claim. And it is a lot of money: more than $450,000.

Reuben Appelman was 15 and sitting in the library studying when a taller, stronger teenager he knew walked up and punched him in the face for no apparent reason. That punch changed the course of Reuben’s life, instilling a deep fury inside of him that he could not shake.

Eileen Powers has been listening to our series of summer jobs and she decided to write in and tell us about hers. One hot June night in 1988, Eileen and a friend decided there had to be more to summer than sitting at home in New York City watching QVC. So they hopped in the car and headed to Cape Cod.