Why ‘brave-making’ is important

Posted September 17th, 2018

Cancer is a bully and a thief. It pushed my husband, Gary, and me around for a while and stole a good deal of our courage. In time, though, we determined to step out into unknown, scary places. We took up hiking and snow-showing in our middle years. We applied to become a non-profit, wrote […]

Cancer and Counter-Culture Courage

Posted February 16th, 2017

Since bringing my 89-year-old mother-in-law, Ivalene, home from the hospital where she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, we’ve both been hit with the upper respiratory plague that’s been going around. The most energy I’ve expended has been in heating up chicken broth, making mugs of TheraFlu, and throwing a fleece blanket into the dryer to tuck around […]

How to Dare Greatly With Cancer

Posted August 8th, 2016

Granddaughter Lilly, a black belt in Mixed Martial Arts, recently competed in an MMA tournament and captured two third place finishes. On the way home, she and I FaceTimed and of course she was disappointed, because she has some rather nice first-place hardware in her room at home. But by the time she and her dad stopped for lunch and she […]

4 Brave-Making Action Steps For Cancer Survivors

Posted August 3rd, 2016

Sometimes when things hit hard and fast — like loss of health or a way of life, or loss of a loved one — there can be a tendency to wrap our lives tightly around ourselves, much like a security blanket, and stay put. All of a sudden, venturing out doesn’t feel very safe. Two summers […]