What Mismatched Socks Taught Us About Living With Cancer

Posted November 17th, 2017

My husband, Gary, and I were back in Hospice House after breaking out for two weeks. Love found us there, because there is no hiding from love. Visitors, food, chai tea in cheery red cups, overflowing gift baskets. And these groovy mismatched socks with the manufacturer’s tag that read: “Life’s too short to wear matching socks.” […]

4 Simple Ways To Experience Peace In Cancer

Posted October 16th, 2017

Not too long ago, I stumbled across an email sent as an update to our kids and siblings on how my husband, Gary, was faring with cancer: “We’re home from Hospice House,” I wrote. “Gary’s still pretty sharp, his sense of humor is still intact, but there’s been quite a bit of change in the past […]

9 Advantages To Having Siblings (Read: Support Team)

Posted September 28th, 2017

I was looking through some photos of my recent Oregon-to-Colorado road trip, and came across this pic of my big brother and me standing at an observation deck above Snowbird in a gorgeous land called Utah. I grew up the girl in the middle. Sandwiched in between two brothers. And while I never tattled, or […]

17 Things I Took For Granted Before Cancer

Posted September 18th, 2017

A blog reader recently sent email about his wife who died too quickly after a cancer diagnosis: “I was unprepared and now alone. My awesome wife and friend … was now missing from my life,” he wrote. His email reminded me that when cancer strikes and we lose someone of infinite value—spouse, child, extended family member, […]

What does ‘living well’ mean?

Posted September 6th, 2017

At a recent one-day writers’ conference, I had a 15-minute meeting with a literary agent. She asked me to tell her about my book proposal, and then provided excellent feedback from someone inside the publishing industry. “I like a phrase you used: ‘How to live well through adversity.’ What do you mean by living well?” she […]

4 Insights Into Reticent Men and Cancer

Posted August 24th, 2017

A friend of mine started dating a man six months after he was diagnosed with cancer. At the start of their relationship, he was open about his health issues. And then cancer showed up stronger, and he walled himself off. “He won’t let me give him any hands-on care,” my friend said. “And he doesn’t want […]

Discovering New Purpose After Cancer

Posted August 9th, 2017

The concept of repurposing catches my imagination. It’s the idea of adapting something for a purpose other than its original intent — a purpose that can be just as valuable, and effective, and stunning. Take this barn, for example. Once a habitat for animals and hay, and maybe even varmints. And now a cozy home. Years ago, […]

How to Regain Childlike Wonder

Posted July 27th, 2017

The New Jersey crew is on an epic cross-country road trip—six grandkids and two parents in an eight-passenger van—visiting family in Iowa, Utah, California, Oregon, Idaho. And I’ve been re-experiencing the wonders of the Wild Wild West through their eyes. Last weekend we were at my bro- and sis-in-law’s ranch in northern California. There was the excitement of riding in […]

How To Live With Knowing – And Not Knowing – The Future

Posted June 29th, 2017

For a second time, I’m reading When Breath Becomes Air by surgeon and author Paul Kalanithi. At age 36 and on a career path that was spiraling upward, Dr. Kalanithi was rudely interrupted. By a lung cancer diagnosis. I had originally highlighted several passages in the book, but one that stood out the second time around […]

Maintaining Bonds With Our Deceased Loved Ones

Posted June 9th, 2017

The park on my parents-in-law’s ranch in the remote hills of northern California had been decorated in fernery, and Gary and I were married beneath the monkey bars (don’t read anything into that). My father-in-law, Jack, had welded together adult-sized playground equipment in a stand of tall, fragrant trees above their ranch house. There was the swing with […]