In this section we publish nonfiction narratives that describe an emotionally engaging and compelling experience in the author's personal life. Subjects can be autobiographical or phantasmal, depicting something memorable. The “Lives” section of the Sunday New York Times Magazine represents the kind of stories appropriate for this section.

In the current essay, “Journey,” Linda Sherby describes her complex and moving experiences during the final days and minutes of her husband's life in a hospice.

Submissions should be written in narrative form rather than scholarly style, so that the reader is engaged in a personal experience with the narrator. Examples include such experiences as first love, a death, a moment that defined your career, an experience that altered your life, or the loss of a loved one, including a patient.