Jan 17
I distinctly remember a day in August 1980 as one of the saddest of my then 26-year-old life. My husband and I, our two little girls in our arms, watched the moving van pull away with all our worldly belongings. Tears streamed as I said goodbye to my dearest friend, Gigi, her husband George and …
Jan 03
Do you know the first word you ever spoke? Perhaps “da-da” or maybe “ma-ma?” I don’t recall whether my mother ever told me mine, but I know for certain what our oldest daughter initially uttered. Danielle was 8.5 months old and crawling after my parents’ Siamese cat when my mother and I heard her say …
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 …
Sep 28
Bill and Pat Shifflet have faced five cancers in their 80+ years–some cured, others not–but please don’t feel sorry for them. The very happy couple doesn’t spend time bemoaning their own struggles; they’re too busy helping others. “Everyday I pray ‘God, show me a need’,” explains, 82-year-old Pat, who loves to pray for people, send …
Jul 12
“Hi, my name is Lynn, and I’m a compulsive planner.” That’s how I would introduce myself if I found a support group for people like me who believe they simply must plan everything. (I basically have to plan to be spontaneous.) I told my husband (a compulsive impromptu person) that I was thinking of blogging …
Apr 20
Dr. Marc Hirsh has walked some deep valleys since he was diagnosed in 2020 with such a serious and rare cancer that he and every specialist he consulted thought his death was imminent. Within days he was forced to close his busy, solo practice of more than three decades and then undergo a painful thoracotomy …
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 …
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 …
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 …
