Izzy bares a striking resemblance to me. Her eyes, her nose, even her heart. She is half me and that means her story is half mine. When I look at her life and all that has come from it I cannot help but remember that she almost never was. Izzy almost didn't exist because nineteen …
Falling Against the Wind
Monday morning I went for a run after I got the kids off to school. Per the usual it wasn't raining when I started and quit almost the moment my foot hit my front step. But for two miles there was a constant stream of water from the heavens. It was hard to look up, my …
A Walk Through The Waiting
Tuesday Evening: The Night Before I sit on the floor of her room watching as she packs a tiny suitcase for her doll. Filled with tiny pajamas, a tiny blanket and a tiny bear it looks nothing more than a chore any other little girl would complete on the eve of a trip. Until she …
Re-Birthday
It was early January, 2012 and we sat in her hospital room in the deepest level of isolation she had ever been in. Only one adult was allowed in the room with her around the clock and no one under the age of eighteen. We were allowed one visitor at a time but with our …
A Cross Stitch Perspective
Someone once told me that life was like the a cross stitch picture. That the happenings of our life were the series of stitches, crisscrossed thread and knots - basically, the complete mess that is the back of the canvas. She told me that only from heaven would we be able to see the front …
Forever Fall
Fall is, by far, my favorite season. It is those classic cliches that I love the most: the crisp air, the turning leaves, the bonfires begging you to gaze into them. All that and more makes Fall my favorite. Makes me love it more every single year. For about one fourth of my life now …
The Exclusive Club of Pediatric Cancer
Photos courtesy of Lantern Tree Photography The laughter of a child is captivating. It is consuming. It lingers to the deepest place of your soul, awakening all that is within. The laughter of your own child is even more captivating, more consuming, more awakening. It somehow finds its way to the forgotten corners of your heart, …
“I will watch them.”
Last week Izzy had quarterly scans. I received email confirmation that they looked stable but it was not until today's appointment that I actually got to talk to our oncologist who had been out of town. It was not until today that I shared with many of you the good news we received at …
Stability
I struggle with this place that we are now, this place of STABLE disease. There are moments of each day were I feel exceeding joy that Izzy is still alive. That she is in school and playing soccer and enjoying being a child. But those moments are always followed by fear of the future …
March 14 – Four Years Later
Four years ago I was on staff at a church preparing for the celebration of Easter weekend. Each year from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday we would hold Forty Days of Prayer in a Prayer Room that had been built in the back of our sanctuary. During that season of Lent someone would be praying in …
