My sweet Girls, I love you. I’m not perfect at showing you that I love you all the time and I know sometimes you wonder. I yell when you don’t listen to me. I get frustrated, I get angry. I get tired. I’m an imperfect being. But I love you so much it hurts. And… Continue reading Letter to my Daughters
It looks like the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, may be repealed soon. And I wanted to point something out to everyone that already has health insurance through a reliable source, and thus are not likely to be immediately effected by the repeal. I’m not going to talk to you about preexisting conditions, though… Continue reading The ACA and Children with Cancer
Eight years ago today, Sophie started chemotherapy. Eight years ago today, I was terrified, watching as Dan held her in her long cherry covered jumper in the waiting room of the hospital while we waited to be taken to pre-op before the surgery to put her port in. By 2pm that day, they had completed… Continue reading Rejoice in Your Holidays
You just read that title and thought “I know my kid is mortal. I’ve faced this.” And I would agree with you before my daughter was diagnosed with cancer. But I didn’t realize what my child’s mortality really was until it slapped me in the face. I knew, when I got pregnant, that I had… Continue reading The Moment You Face Your Child’s Mortality
My daughter cried today. So hard I almost couldn’t understand what she was saying when I asked her to talk about it. But I had to restart my own sentence because my own voice croaked. I was crying too. See, I listen to NPR on the way home with Sophie so that we can talk… Continue reading My daughter cried today.
Since my daughter was diagnosed with liver failure and then cancer, I have heard it all. I can give you a long list of things not to say to a parent with a sick or chronically ill child, but that would be exhausting and wouldn’t nearly cover it all. These lists are all over the… Continue reading Five Things the Parents of a Child with a Chronic Illness NEED TO HEAR
I have three kids. I love the hell out of each and every one of them and wouldn’t trade a minute with them. But I had NO idea what I was getting into. When you are young and in love you think “I want a child that looks like him.” or “Maybe our children will… Continue reading What Every Person Who Wants a Kid Should Be Told.
It’s not easy being a woman in 2016 in the South. I’d wager it’s not easy being a woman in 2016 anywhere, but since I’ve had my son, I’ve realized that it’s also not easy being a man or growing up as a boy in 2016, either. As the wife of an amazing man and… Continue reading A REAL Man…
My husband is a man of many colors, a renaissance man with many cloaks and many talents. He is humble and kind and doesn’t think much of himself, which is ridiculous, but I can hardly change him or how he sees himself after 14 years. Much like myself, his soul was marred by our daughter’s… Continue reading Homage to Chemo Dads
We got a bill in the mail today… which really isn’t that weird, except this one comes in periodically from a physician who will NOT be getting paid for the supposed service for which he is charging us. The bill is for a physician’s visit over 7 years ago. You read that right. SEVEN years. … Continue reading Listen to Your Gut
Herding Chaos 