So many mornings this past year, I have woken up thinking, “Holy crap!  I have breast cancer!” or, later, “Holy cow!  Where are my boobs?  Oy, the cancer got ’em.” Having a Big Thing happen in your life is like that: it is, seemingly forever, surreal.  I still shake my head in disbelief that this is my life, that this has happened to...

Three months ago, Greta would babble in her crib, read books, and play with her baby dolls when she woke up.  Eventually she would blurt out, “Mom!  Mom!”  when she wanted to get out. These days, however, she awakes with a start and immediately starts yelling, “I want out!  I want out!”  She knows that she is missing something and she...

Tonight I watched as Maren sat on the kitchen island counter.  She swung her legs a little, and she chatted with Brad while he chopped and prepped veggies for dinner.  I noticed that her size six pajamas are creeping up her ankles and wrists.  Eventually she pulled out her read-at-home school books and read to him as he worked.  She asked him for help when she...

Milestones are funny things.  They pass the time.  Sometimes it seems like time flies, other times like time slows and nearly stops.  The same event can be both a blink and an eternity.  It reminds me of a flowing river: such different experiences: on a boat, on the shore, in the water, wading.  There are so many perspectives to see the same things.  I pray that I...

Thanksgiving week.  It’s a great holiday season.  And it is a season–all on it’s own. I love the deep inhalation of gratitude and rest that comes at the end of November.  When I was in school, I needed Thanksgiving break.  (I needed it when I was in school as a student, and possibly even more when I was in school as a high school...