In this narrative, Dr. Debra Hamer reflects back on brain surgery she had many years ago, before she became a physician and a mother. She tries to find closure and get to a place of gratitude. Dr. Hamer is an assistant professor and psychiatrist at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.She wrote a Humanities Encounters article published in CMAJ called "A letter to my neurosurgeon."To read the article: www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.181526-----------------------------------Music: A Nostalgic Place, YouTube audio library-----------------------------------For more stories like this one, get your copy of CMAJ’s Encounters Book. This anthology of prose and poetry of some 100 Canadian authors including Drs. David Goldbloom, Shane Neilson, Allan Peterkin and Monica Kidd, has been specially curated and includes a study guide. shop.cma.ca/products/encounters-----------------------------------Subscribe to CMAJ Podcasts on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Overcast, Instacast, or your favourite app. You can also follow us directly on our SoundCloud page or you can visit www.cmaj.ca/page/multimedia/podcasts.