We recently moved to a new home; one with a large yard and many plants, shrubs and perennials. I have never gardened. In fact, the past few years I didn’t even buy one potted plant because it felt like one more responsibility for me to care for. ......
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Have you experienced times in your life when the stars seem to align and life starts unfolding like the clothes falling out of a laundry basket? Where you thought you knew how life was going to go, but all of a sudden there’s a detour onto an exciting new path? ......
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Here I sit on the floor in my living room, trying to process the past 20 years, trying to grasp order and structure to the events in my life. I’m surrounded by my computer, personal journals, index cards, sticky notes, and my favorite felt tip pens in probably 15 different colors. The scenes are scattered about with themes and threads weaving over and through the 50,000 words I’ve written.
I stop to wonder why I’m always drawn to working at the kitchen table or in this, the adjoining living room.
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What was I thinking? A road trip through multiple states over two weeks with my parents and daughter. Quickly I learned with proper planning and research this would be a magical experience for us all.
Sometimes life is really hard.
I'm not referring to the hard where you oversleep and are late for work.
But instead, the hard where it feels impossible to move.
"You're supposed to listen to your Mom on Mother's Day" This may have been an exact quote from me yesterday.
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I came across this memory today, from April 2020. The days when most all of us were quarantined to home. When so much was unknown in each of our lives.
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I never thought we'd be taking Brielle to Hawaii.
But
I also never thought I'd be living with metastatic breast cancer.
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11/10/09 made me a stronger person.
13 years ago today was when I picked up that phone call.
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Below is an excerpt from a journal I kept and shared with my family/friends after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This particular post was written after I found out my cancer had metastasized.
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I've been realizing lately how important it is to share the WHY with my family. When I share the why with my daughter, she cooperates and relates more easily.
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Today is a big day for me. SEVEN years ago I got the call.
The 2nd call -- more than 5 years after the 1st time I had heard the words "you have cancer".
It was a cold Friday evening in January. The morning temperature was 26 degrees below zero. School was cancelled because of the wind-chill temps of 45 below.
Brian was out of town for the weekend so it was just 6 year old Brielle and me. What could we do for fun tonight?
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Here’s a glimpse into the past few days for me:
Standing in our kitchen, I hold on tighter and seconds longer than a “normal” hug. I first hug Brielle, then Brian. Brian squeezes tighter too. “I’ll be thinking of you, babe. I hope your scans go well.” The tone of his voice tells me we’re both thinking the same thing.
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