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Family & Culture

My First Colonoscopy Was Like A Grand Old Party. I invited all my friends to watch it!

The average total cost of a colonoscopy in the US is $3,081. That’s a hefty sum for any lower and middle-income family.

Elliott D. Paige

Elliott D. Paige

10 Apr 2021 — 6 min read
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My First Colonoscopy Was Like A Grand Old Party. I invited all my friends to watch it!
Photo by National Cancer Institute / Unsplash

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Border crossing sign, essay on immigration and tradition in Joy 2018 film

The Oath and the Open Door

Joy opens with a ritual. A chicken, blood, a young woman swearing an oath before she crosses the water. I kept asking: is it the belief that traps her, or the circumstances?

By Elliott D. Paige 22 May 2026
Man relaxing on a sandy beach in Antigua, Caribbean diaspora identity essay by Elliott D. Paige

What It Means to Be From Somewhere

A personal reflection on Caribbean diaspora identity, exploring what it means to carry home across distance, memory, and generations.

By Elliott D. Paige 13 May 2026
Oriente train station Lisbon at night, essay on expat identity and belonging

The Light Here Is Different

When you spend 30 years moving for professional reasons, you develop a kind of useful detachment. You get very good at being open. You get good at choosing a place that's calm, planting yourself deliberately, and deciding this is the new home where you will let things slow down enough to be seen.

By Elliott D. Paige 15 Apr 2026
Head plugged in like a robot, symbol of CAPTCHA computer security, and what it means to be human, essay by Elliott D. Paige

What the CAPTCHA Knows

A Dutch short film about failing a robot test won this year's Oscar. Twenty-two minutes. And somewhere in it, I found myself thinking about grief and what we're really asking when we demand that someone never die.

By Elliott D. Paige 03 Apr 2026

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Elliott D. Paige
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