My seven-year-old son crawled into the chair next to me yesterday morning. It was early, I was spending some time with God, but Ben decided he wanted to spend some time with me.
We sat there, the three of us (God, Ben and me), in one comfy little chair with a blanket tucked around us when Ben asked me a question.
Mom, ... Read More
When Mr. Rogers was a boy and terrible things would happen around the world, his mom would tell him to look for the helpers. Instead of focusing on the destruction, she encouraged him to look for the good — for those people who were moving forward in kindness.
Fred Rogers took that message with him into adulthood where he shared it ... Read More
I had just one question for the doctor: Is this normal?
I’ve been cancer-free for two years, but I still go to The James every three months for a check-up. Yesterday was the day.
I sat in the white, sterile exam room in a chair eye-level with my medical oncologist. Everything in the room looked clinical and uncaring, except for her eyes.
Her ... Read More
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you ... Read More
I’m sure this article has nothing to do with you. It’s about difficult people. You might want to keep reading though, because you probably know a few folks in your life who fit the description.
A difficult person is someone who constantly seems to give their opinion— loudly— even when you haven’t asked for it; someone who has to complain about ... Read More
I wonder sometimes about the messages I send even when I am completely unaware.
I have been known to roll my eyes and huff at my youngest son, “Can you please remember to bus your own spot after dinner this time?” I wonder if I am secretly saying to him, “You can’t remember to do anything.”
The thought is sobering and if ... Read More
2018. That’s the date (or at least year) set in my mind for the release of my new breast cancer book. This is the book that shows what the process of reconstruction looks like on a real woman’s body — my body.
But I am only one. One voice, one body, one choice of the many reconstruction options. That’s why I ... Read More
I would never take a stroll with an artist through his studio and start judging his work.
Can you imagine? Walking along and commenting to the one who created each canvas, saying, “Oh, that one is lovely… but that one really sucks… I love the colors you used in this one… but man that one is stupid.”
We wouldn’t do that, right?
And ... Read More
My dad had a stroke in the summer of 2016. For more than a year, he’s been a resident of an assisted living home. It’s a lovely place, but my heart hurts because I know that isn’t where he wants to be.
I got to return to Wisconsin to visit him a few weeks ago and was delighted to see that ... Read More
Apparently there is this thing in Southeastern Ohio where you leave an extremely large zucchini on someone’s porch or in their car.
I’m not sure if the vegetable is left because the mystery giver is a friend or foe. That’s still sort of unclear. It’s kind of like back in high school, when I was never quite certain if it was ... Read More
