Okay, friends and family! I am hearing from you that you are wondering how I am. I mostly disappeared after the insertion of a pain pump for my new diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer. On June 19, I had a Medtronic pain pump inserted into a "pocket" incision made into my right upper abdomen. The …
Continue reading Adventure on Holy Ground #6 / Pancreatic Cancer
I have a new diagnosis. Not exactly a pleasant one. I found out after I had a CT scan of the abdomen three weeks ago. I’d just flown home after six weeks in AZ, and when my daughter picked me up at the airport, I asked her to take me directly from the airport to …
Continue reading Hatpins, Waist Squeezers, and Unplanned Naps
I am at my winter place in AZ. I am eating brownies made and frozen by my daughter-in-law. I'm sure I read somewhere that they are curative for a cold. I hope you did not miss that article. It is chilly here for this time. In the 50s and 60s with several days of rain. …
Have you ever felt as if your brain would burst from accumulated words? As a writer and blogger, I'm having that problem now. The last time I remember being in this situation was the day I started my Caring Lessons memoir. Sitting in a NC gazebo with my friend Marianna and a cat crossing our …
First, you must meet them—my adorable grand dog puppies. Here I am sitting quietly at my daughter’s on Christmas Day with the puppies on my lap. But they are puppies, so they are usually frolicking or sleeping. And they don’t know me yet, so they greet me rambunctiously, and it feels like they’d rather explore …
Continue reading Growing Older: Christmas Gifts from my Grand Dogs
Two weeks ago I asked you for help staying sane while I try to meet my goal of being cured in a few weeks. I have good news. I'm closer than ever before. I've almost got my pain managed, and I'm allowed to wean myself off the walker in the house. I'm on my way! …
I purged my closet of twenty-seven items. Does this “first line” grab your attention? Do you want to know more? Do you wonder if there’s a correlation between these two events? Is this something you even care to read about? The goal for first lines is to keep the reader reading. Read the first lines …
If you've never taken a class on writing about your own life, you are missing out on some fun stuff. Yes, some material from your life may be painful to write, but a lot of things are fun to recollect. To help you remember, writing teachers come to class armed with "prompts" to jog your …
As virus numbers soar, I work at finding humor everyday. It's all around me; I just have to be aware of it. It's easy, as a friend says, to be a Debbie Downer. That's not my choice. For instance, just now I took an OLLI class on donating my body to science. I signed up …
For the past few weeks, I’ve been sorting, thinning, and throwing away files. Dozens of them. And reminiscing. Yesterday, among my writing files from the early 2000s, I found this dialogue between Marv and me and thought it would be fun to post on a Grief Anniversary. Fun memories from a fifty-five-year marriage go a …
Continue reading Grief at Twenty-one Months: A Fun Memory from a Long Marriage
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