Oct 25
I remember so well the first cancer support group meeting I attended at our community hospital. It was the summer of 1990. I was a 36-year-old reporter for a York, PA, newspaper and recently had interviewed Mary Flinner, the new group’s facilitator. When I showed up at a support group meeting a few weeks after my story …
Feb 09
May I be honest and share two things?…First, this short post is mainly for me. And second, the song at the end is the best part of it. I’m writing for myself because unwelcome events have left a trail of sadness in my heart. Perhaps you can relate. I’m mourning two years of a brutal …
Dec 29
He likes sweet. I like salty. He thrives on change. I seek routine. He favors the East Coast. I prefer the West. He is impulsive. I have to plan to be spontaneous. But we do agree on this: We’re still very much in love. Forty-eight years ago on this date we said “I do,” and …
Mar 03
My Dad would have turned 96 today if he hadn’t passed away in 2011. I can still recall my last phone conversation with him after the hospice nurse called to say his time was short. We lived several hours away and even though we left as soon as we could, we did not get …
Feb 17
If you’re like me and enjoy hearing stories about people who weren’t “supposed to be here,” please meet my friend, Nancy, a long-time survivor of incurable liver cancer. In 2005 Nancy was told she had a “very aggressive” liver cancer and there was nothing anyone could do for her. “If you have anything you …
Oct 29
I’m a passionate football fan. I enjoy exciting, close games…unless the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Philadelphia Eagles are playing. Then I’m a nervous wreck and terribly worried until my team is ahead by at least three scores. Last week I’m watching the 4th quarter of the Philadelphia-N.Y. Giants game and the Eagles are down …
Aug 12
Cancer has a nasty habit of taking things away from people–things like hair and strength and jobs and time. Sometimes it takes them away for a short while and sometimes it takes them away permanently. Even before my oncologist Dr. Marc Hirsh got an official cancer diagnosis, the disease already was robbing him of …
Jul 22
I have a confession to make. It’s kind of embarrassing and I’m reticent to admit it, but I want to be transparent so I’m going public. I leak. Seriously, I do. And I’m not talking about once in a blue moon or even occasionally. I’m talking basically everyday, especially for the last several months. …
May 20
Any fears flooding your thoughts these days? Reading on-line obituaries to see who died from COVID-19? Scrolling Facebook to read the latest thing to worry about? After my cancer diagnosis in 1990, every night I’d look in the local paper to see if someone I had treatment with had died or how many people …
Feb 19
What are your fighting against these days? Cancer? Addiction? Depression? Discouragement? Or what are you fighting for? Your marriage? A wayward loved one? Improved finances? Restored health? Well, as the Brits like to say: Seriously. Keeping calm in the face of impending disaster actually is a recurring message throughout the Bible. As the Israelites …
