Maren’s kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Heart, began calling the children (the five-year-olds) writers the very first week of school.  Some, like Maren, could write their own name, but others were still practicing.  Yet, Mrs. Heart called them writers: she called out their identity, and the twenty-four little people in the class are rising to the challenge and...

My girls are four years and two weeks apart. When I was pregnant with Greta, I wondered what kind of a relationship they would have with each other during their childhood years.  There is so much that plays into it: age, personality, birth order. I have two little sisters; I love my sisters.  When we were little, I was the dictator; treating Chief Sister with my...

Tonight I tucked Maren in.  (Oh, how I miss tucking my girls in every night!)  She’s been having nightmares, anxiety, and fear at night, so I was reassuring her, praying with her, and encouraging her.  One of the strategies that we use for her to self-soothe is for her to lie in bed and count off ten happy things on her fingers.  To teach her this practice, I...

The other day, my friend Joy was walking behind her daughter and my Maren.  The girls were chattering away, as five-year-olds do.  Joy tuned in to hear this snippet of their conversation; it’s Maren describing to her friend what the plan is for the coming week(s): Maren, “My mom is going to the hospital to have surgery.”  Gesturing to her chest,...

    Maren drew this picture of me yesterday, and said, “Mama I made this picture of you.  Aren’t you beautiful?”:I love many things about this picture: -My hair: it’s pretty true-to-life.  She no longer draws me as she remembers me before cancer; she draws me as I am today. -My teeth: her friend lost a tooth at our house yesterday,...

Dr. Wonderful asks, as he does at every appointment, “So Jen, have you noticed any changes after the last week or so?” “Well, I had some tingling after the last chemo for the first time.  That was cool.”  He nods.  “And I think it is a bit smaller, but I have a hard time assessing.  The biggest thing that I did was to send out a request...