The brain, removed

I never thought I would hold a human brain in my very own hands. Last week I removed my cadaver's in gross anatomy (I am a first year medical student) and stood at my dissection table in quiet awe. It is heavy and big, compared to other organs in our bodies, and has a density and texture that reminded me of rich, moist clay you might use for pottery. (The neurosurgeon helping us with the dissection said the living brain was rather a different beast - more supple and delicate.) Holding the most incredible thing we know in the universe in the palm of your hand is an akward, uncanny honor; in the end, and devoid of life, it is just a lump of meat.