December 2008 Dear Friend/Family Member/Facebook Acquaintance, I am delighted to be wishing you and your husband/wife/kid/kids/cat/dog/o...

It's taken me 3 days to write this email - you'll see why below! Please note my disclaimer that I was brought in to help with this e...

For the first time (aside from the desert sand and heat surrounding every city) I feel like I have arrived in an area that much more meets m...

Good morning! I've just figured out that I've hit the airport(s) 6 times in 6 days. Another 9 between now and November 11th - how ...

We're tracing the steps that we will do with our group when they arrive next week in the 4 cities that we're taking them to and so s...

THE LIST John just found a small pad of paper with my mother’s handwriting still beautiful but shaky. With a list of 13 dates writt...

STILL HERE We’re sitting on the porch and I’m reflecting and being quiet John’s talking. We should do this and we should do that and ...

THE MORNING AFTER Before she got diagnosed the second, and final time I asked her how she was feeling about her post-cancer life. At that ti...

May 30, 2008 - 3:15 pm Her breathing’s really slow and her eye lids flutter and it’s really quiet. But there are some birds chirping outside...

DROWNING I don’t know the medical term for it but she’s got some kind of fluid bubbling up in the back of her throat. Her already strained b...

LAST WORDS In the movies it seems like people say their last words and then shut their eyes and they’re gone. After 12 hours of her being un...

BREATHING She’s been unconscious for over 12 hours now. Which might not seem like a long time if you’re lying on a beach on your last day of...

NIGHTIE Her nightie is bunched under her arms behind her back. The collar is crooked and one side is pulled up too high and gaping slightly ...

SUNFLOWERS FOR MOM She’s sort of in and out of sleep and part of it is that John can’t stay still. He’s very intent on entertaining her whic...

December 2007 I’m not sure why I was in such a rush to buy my cards before Christmas given that I’m not writing in them until nearly New Yea...

NOT GOING TO GET BETTER So we’re all getting better at doing this. This time I’ve been told clearly that the new spot is cancerous and that ...

UNEXPECTED There’s a song about sunscreen that says that sometimes the biggest moments in life come when you’re not expecting them like on a...

LOP-SIDED I know there will be something warm and hot on the stove and Mom will have been waiting. Waiting for the sound of the car completi...

ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS I’m walking through the Bay looking at men’s clothes because Mom says John wants a sweater for Christmas. I’m no...

MASTECTOMY I’m sitting in my car on 2nd Avenue in tears because she’s going to have a Mastectomy. I’m devastated for my mother because she’s...