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 …
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 …
Nov 17
It’s pretty easy to thank God when everything’s going well. When you feel happy. When you have your health. When your loved ones are doing fine. It’s a lot harder when some things—maybe most things—are not going well. In those first dark days after my cancer diagnosis in 1990, I literally could not pray. Sentences simply …
Jul 21
When you believe in God, it can be hard to come to terms with the fact that He has allowed adversity to come into your or your loved one’s life. Author David Biebel talks about this fact in his book If God Is So Good, Why Do I Hurt So Bad? He says there are …
Jul 07
Perhaps you feel a little like a pigeon-covered statue these days or maybe you simply would like to experience a measure of calm in your harried life. Either way, here are some words to the weary taken from “leftover” quotes (including the blog title), which I ended up not using when writing my last …
Jun 23
Today I’d like to introduce you to “Crash,” a red-tailed hawk, who had the misfortune of colliding with a car this spring in Mercer County, PA, and had to be extricated from the front bumper. The good news is that Crash survived his ordeal, was rescued and then taken to a wildlife rehab center. However, …
May 26
For most of the past four decades I’ve been a caregiver for family members who were either physically or mentally unwell. I’ve had a relative with dementia living in our home for years, and I’ve made biweekly seven-hour car trips for months to be with another one undergoing chemo. I’ve been so physically fatigued I …
Apr 28
Ring the bells again! The last time I set these bells on the arm of my husband’s La-Z-Boy recliner was January 2017 after his bilateral knee replacement. Well, today he gets a shoulder replaced. So once again I want him to be able to summon me day and night–hence TWO bells. The smaller one is …
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 …
