{"id":13105,"date":"2026-02-28T21:09:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T02:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/?p=13105"},"modified":"2026-03-22T19:43:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:43:54","slug":"rick-ollie-writing-through-illness-love-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/es\/2026\/02\/28\/rick-ollie-writing-through-illness-love-and-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Ollie: Writing Through Illness, Love, and Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Long Overdue Introduction <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve written more than 300 pieces over the past three years here, and somehow, I\u2019ve never properly introduced myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That feels intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or maybe it feels like survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Professional<\/a>
Rick Ollie<\/em><\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My name is Rick. I\u2019m a native Michigander, a former journalist, and someone who once believed life would unfold in clean, predictable chapters. But it hasn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I live with heart disease. I live with cancer. Those are not metaphors. They are medical realities that arrived without invitation \u2014 ICDs, ablations, cardioversions, hormone injections, lab work, operating rooms. The language of intervention has become part of my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But illness is not my identity. It is a condition of my life \u2014 not the definition of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write because I refuse to shrink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years ago, when diagnoses and loss began reshaping my world, I could have gone quiet. Instead, I chose to document it. Not as a victim. Not as an inspiration poster. But as a man trying to make sense of biology, love, culture, faith, and the fragile architecture of the human body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll find reflections here on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Health and survivorship
\u2022 The complexity of love and letting go
\u2022 Art, film, and music that move me
\u2022 Detroit \u2014 the city that raised me
\u2022 The small, sacred moments most people scroll past<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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