About this time last year, I was walking down the sloping hill from the cross on the church property toward the lake, a niece on my hip, my kids just in front of me, my nephews, nieces, parents, aunts, uncles and closest friends surrounding me. We were holding lanterns with handwritten messages on them, intending... Continue Reading →
Celebration of Life for Jesse
September 6, 2021:~on the 6 year anniversary of the day I first heard the words, “Your husband has brain cancer.”~almost to the hour of when this part of our story began~we will gather at the cross Jesse loved~on the church property he oft tread; and,~as the sun sets~we will worship the good Lord Jesse served... Continue Reading →
It is not good, but it is well
Several years (and a battery of tests that nearly killed me) ago, I was diagnosed with a string of autonomic nervous system disorders. After months of attempting to regulate my heart rate and blood pressure with medications, which resulted in more near death experiences of allergic reactions and other side effects, my cardiologist recommended I,... Continue Reading →
Dying, mourning, weeping, rejoicing, fearing, longing, waiting, hoping: We live.
You know, it’s funny, I could not have imagined I would still have any new words left about all of this at this point, but they still keep pouring forth, though I know the theme is the same: Jesse is dying. Our kids are yearning for something we cannot give them. I am increasingly shattered... Continue Reading →
About all of that seizure testing we did…
I woke you up two nights ago, accidentally. I tripped in the darkness coming out of the bathtub and into the door frame. You startled and your body went rigid with seizure, caused by abrupt awake-ness from the dream taunting you into unrest. Your eyes opened unnaturally wide, your right pupil hyper-dilated, encompassing the blue... Continue Reading →
Before brain cancer stole him away
He was dying the day a butterfly alighted on his shoulder and stayed for several minutes. He was dying as he twirled his small daughter around on the dance floor during the reception of a beloved unbiological sister (a term my family uses to describe two of our siblings the good Lord gave us through... Continue Reading →
So I have this picture of a shirt in a trash can…
He brought it to me, tangled up in a pile of other discarded clothing. I saw the sleeve peeking out from beneath an outgrown child’s shirt, the happy, bright orchid standing out in contrast to the white and grey surrounding it. My soul choked on a memory I thought I had discarded alongside the purple... Continue Reading →