You should have seen my face when the nurse told me I had to go home with a catheter. I was less than cheerful. Yet, I obeyed, because what choice did I really have?
Last week’s hysterectomy was a smashing success, minus the bag of my own urine I have had to carry around for the last five days.
God always seems ... Read More
I slipped my hand into my husband’s and whispered, “You don’t need to say anything. Just stand here with me. I’m scared.”
He knew exactly what I was talking about. Despite being in a gym crowded with youthful basketball players and their excited parents and grandparents, it felt like it was just the two of us. A united front. Ready to ... Read More
Have you ever been encouraged by someone else’s story? I bet you have. It’s a special brand of kindness to share our vulnerabilities because it reminds others in their scariest moments that we’re not alone.
Fargo resident Pat Pobst recalls a time many years ago that she needed to draw on another family’s story.
“Back in the late 1980s, The Forum ran ... Read More
Isn’t it funny how life interrupts us and pulls our eyes off of ourselves?
Gail Perry Johnston is a graphic designer in California. She likes to jog in the middle of the day, but a few months ago, she decided to buy a vacuum at Walmart instead. That was when life interrupted her.
“All I wanted to do was buy a DustBuster, ... Read More
My friend, Heather, died of cancer when we were 30. I remember walking through a deli with her when she was deep in the battle. I noticed how other people looked at her out of the corner of their eyes.
When my friend noticed another woman wearing a scarf over a bald head, Heather marched right over to her, said “Hello!” ... Read More
My husband and I drove the 90 minutes to the cancer center with no idea what to expect. We knew they were going to confirm I had breast cancer, but beyond that, we were clueless.
I wore the white and pink robe around the facility from machine to machine, doctor to doctor, until I got to the last room of the ... Read More
Sometimes it’s not the first blow that knocks us down, it’s the second or the third.
We can hold it together for the initial bad news, but all too quickly comes a totally unrelated problem that causes us to come unglued. I think they call that the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Jolene Rohde has been going through a tough time. ... Read More
There are things in life that are too heavy for words. We don’t know what to say, so we say nothing at all.
I know I’ve been guilty of turning away from someone in their time of need because I couldn’t imagine anything I could say or do to lift their burden. Have you ever felt that way?
Maybe the point isn’t ... Read More
Twenty-one years ago, I met a woman with a beautiful face and an even more beautiful spirit.
Her name was Kelly Roarke and she was Miss Rhode Island 1997. I was Miss Wisconsin at the time and we became friends on the stage of the Miss America pageant.
I haven’t heard from Kelly in years. I get to see updates on Facebook, ... Read More
They say there are ties that bind, things that happen in our lives that leave us forever connected and intertwined with others.
But what happens when decades begin to deteriorate our communication with those people?
As Caryl Kiser from southeastern Ohio shares, those ties not only continue to hold, they grow stronger with each knot of kindness.
“Five years ago, after moving back ... Read More
