Apr 26
The other morning as I listened to CeCe Winans belt out the song “The Goodness of God,” I suddenly had flashbacks of “bad” things I’ve experienced in my nearly seven decades of living. A Mother’s Day miscarriage. A life-threatening cancer diagnosis. Untimely deaths of dear friends. Painful turmoil in churches. Addiction crises ending in suicides. …
Feb 14
Last year when my friend Carolyn took ornaments off the Christmas tree, she wondered what changes would come to her family before she unpacked them again. Never could she have imagined what 2022 would bring. But neither could she have foreseen what God was going to supply for one of the most difficult years of …
Jan 31
THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!! And if you’re wondering what that announcement has to do with words to the weary, I must tell you that I started writing this blog in my mind as I lay awake in the middle of the night after the Eagles’ win. So it must be …
Dec 13
The holidays often are especially difficult for those who have lost a loved one. How do we convey sympathy without saying something irritating or even downright painful? Have you ever felt helpless knowing what to say when someone has experienced a deep loss? Here are my thoughts on SIX THINGS ALWAYS TO SAY TO GRIEVERS. I’m …
Nov 29
Is there anyone you’ll be missing this Christmas? I know so many who have “lost” loved ones this year. A spouse of 55 years. A 43-year-old father of two teenage girls. An 88-year-old amazing grandpa. A 22-year-old son killed on a motorcycle. A best man from a long ago wedding. A 9-year-old little girl tearfully …
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 …
Jul 26
My husband’s Cousin Marge, born a premie in 1919, came with a doctor’s warning to her parents: “Don’t get too attached because she’s not going to survive.” For years Marge loved to tell that story, including the detail of spending her first few months sleeping in a shoebox. That precarious beginning seemed to set the …
May 17
This past weekend my husband and I traveled to western New York for my first in-person speaking engagements since the pandemic began. (I’ve only been doing Zoom events so it was a little more work figuring out what pair of nice pants to wear 🙂 ) While in the area, we had the joy of …
Mar 08
My younger brother Jim and I invented a game as little kids and for some inexplicable reason we continue to play it now in our late 60s. We call it “Touched You Last.” The rules are simple: When it’s time to part, be the last person to touch the other. Finesse is important as we …
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 …
