In 2005, my only brother died at age 74 of pancreatic cancer. At the time, my husband and I were living in Chicago, and I had been impressed by Joseph Cardinal Bernadin's memoir of his final months of living with the disease. His book, The Gift of Peace, had been published in 1997, and I …
Tag: family
Black Plastic Glasses and Other Blessings
Summer time, especially today with overcast skies, merits a trip into family nostalgia. Look what I found on an old external hard drive: A delightful sibling memory! From the file: Lois Roelofs/Stories//10-25-2001 You have to meet my sister Rose. She can change your life if you’re not careful. Recently, I made a major career …
Environs
On a flight recently, I spent some time reading blogging friends who have fibromyalgia. Having FM myself, I always marvel at the resilience with which these gals, with chronic muscle pain and oftentimes foggy brains, valiantly face each challenge. Also, on my flight, I read a piece that said we should be thankful for our …
Sister’s Visit – Chicago – 2014
Last week, one of my sisters came for her annual visit. As we amble through our seventies, these visits become almost sacred. Some day, hopefully not soon, our knees or our hips or our whole bodies may say, "No more travel." So while she can still hoist a suitcase onto Amtrak, and while I still …
Caregivers Write Your Stories (#1)
So, you’ve thought about writing your stories, but you certainly don’t have time. And you have no idea how to start anyway. Excuses. Last Wednesday at the Palos Heights Public Library (IL), participants in Caregivers Share Your Story learned they could start writing their stories in only ten minutes. Caregivers can include all of us–we …
Sun Country, Here I Come
I'm leaving for CA in the morning to join one of my sisters for a fun week in the sun. We both have birthdays soon, so we'll celebrate. Seventies, I'm on my way! If I recall correctly, Ben Franklin, Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali were born on the same day in January as I. …
“I’m Dewey’s youngest sister.” Grief revisited.
“I'm Dewey’s youngest sister.” These words of introduction hold unique poignancy for me. I've not been able to say them in a long time. My brother died an unexpectedly early and quick death from pancreatic cancer nearly six years ago. At one Thanksgiving collection of out-of-state family members he was there, at the next he …
Continue reading “I’m Dewey’s youngest sister.” Grief revisited.
Write Along with Me 