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 23
When our grandson Benjamin was four, he was a total Daddy’s boy—as in, the best time of day was when Daddy came home and the worst time was when he had to leave. So it wasn’t surprising when we were together at a local pizza buffet a few years ago and Benny stopped eating pasta …
Dec 15
I thought it wouldn’t. But it did. It happened again. Kenny G was belting out jazzy, holiday cheer. A burning candle wafted a delicious candy cane scent. I was by myself happily decorating our house for Christmas. I lifted a slightly torn, rectangular box out of the large plastic storage bin and chuckled to myself. This box …
Apr 14
I don’t think most people are truly prepared to get bad news–especially concerning our health or a loved one’s. Instead we hope against hope that things will not turn out as we fear and the whole nightmare will go away. Right up until I saw the look on my gastroenterologist’s face after my colonoscopy …
Feb 03
In grade-school science, you probably learned that a shadow is caused by the absence of light when an opaque (not see-through) object has absorbed the light. And that shadows fall opposite their light source. That’s why your shadow is in front of you if the sun is behind you and vice versa. The way you’re …
Jan 20
It’s been more than four months since I’ve interviewed Dr. Marc Hirsh about his journey with a rare cancer, so I called him a few days ago. “Just got back from a half-hour run with (older daughter)Jessi’s two dogs,” Marc said on the phone as he fixed himself a glass of juice. “You’re jogging?” I …
Aug 05
I remember thinking how ironic it was when I was diagnosed with cancer just six weeks after interviewing the local oncologist, Dr. Marc Hirsh, for my newspaper story about the hospital’s new cancer support group. And now in an even greater irony, that cancer specialist–my oncologist–has been diagnosed with the very disease that he spent …
Jun 03
My cousin Jim knows  from his years of soaring into hurricanes and typhoons that flying into a storm is extremely dangerous. But as part of a U.S. Air Force weather reconnaissance team, it was his job to help gather weather data so forecasters could better predict a storm’s strength. It was critical, Jim says, …
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 …
Jan 23
Fear is your enemy’s weapon. He uses it skillfully and often to great effect. Fear and its offshoots–worry and anxiety–are like a wildfire, encroaching on every area of your life and leaving destruction in their wake. Fear eats its way into your emotions, robbing you of the peace and rest God intends for you. Fear …
