The After

Two years into my young son Cub's treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, we were in-patient at St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis. Cub had been fighting a fever for 3 weeks and, even though we were less than a year away from celebrating the end of treatment, we were weary. A friend texted me one...

The Art of “B”-ing

Today is the 24th birthday of a very special young lady named Brittany, or B for short. I became friends with B's parents back in college. I had the honor of standing as a bridesmaid in their wedding, of attending a shower celebrating the highly anticipated arrival of their first and only child, and of...

52 Weeks

52 weeks from today, my little boy Cub will be sitting bare-chested in a vinyl therapy chair. He and I will put on little yellow masks as a clinic nurse opens a sterile packet containing gloves, cleanser, and a 3/4 inch needle with a tail made of narrow plastic tubing. He'll squirm while she wipes off the numbing cream...

The Day My Son’s Cancer Cure Almost Took His Life

On the morning of April 16, 2015, I thought that the worst day of my life was behind me. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than finding out 6 months before that Cub, my 5-year-old son and only child, had cancer. But I was wrong. That evening, during dinner, he began having seizures and fell unconscious....

What we Leave Behind

luceleaf journal

In the past, my mother had expressed concern over what she had to leave for her children. I remember her being disappointed that she didn’t have a lot of “valuables” to pass on, or a large inheritance to divide amongst her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

I would try to reassure her with words like, “Don’t worry mom, you’ve done so much already.” Or, “Mom, that’s not what matters.”

Still, for my generous mother who was a child of the depression, she was worried about supplying our needs far into the future – a future that she would not be able to reach into to help solve our problems.

My mother had known depths of need in her life that most of us are never burdened with experiencing. And she survived. And she made sure we did, too. It may not have always been fun, and it most definitely may not…

View original post 406 more words

Wake to Your Calling: The 1 Question You Should Be Asking to Get There

Don't let your dreams die!

Heartbeat

A small crystal clock that once belonged to my mother sits on my nightstand. One classy thing amongst my scattered clutter -- 16 books, 2 hair clips, my son's Legos, and a winged Skylander. But. When the world is quiet. When I'm quiet. I hear the tick tock beat of time slow and steady. Her clock. From her nightstand. Now...

Choosing Joy

This close to Christmas, we all need to remember to CHOOSE JOY! 🙂

JoyGurls

We all have “bad” days now and then, right? Perhaps you’re having one today – maybe you’ve locked your keys in the car, spilled your once-a-week mocha treat down your blouse minutes before “the big meeting,” or, in the rush of a hectic morning, forgot to pack little Joey’s lunch.

You roll your eyes, heave a sigh, and maybe even let out a little chuckle, and you keep moving. At some point later in your day, you open up Facebook and inevitably scroll down to a cute little kitten meme with some profound words of wisdom sprawled across it’s fuzzy little body in a sickeningly cute little font. And you laugh in spite of yourself and your “bad” day. We’ve all been there, right?

But, today, I want to talk to you about the really bad “bad” days. You know, the ones that leave us with little, if any, joy…

View original post 356 more words

6 Things I Learned My First Year as a Cancer Mommy

Over the past year, I haven't allowed myself to look back very often. When Cub was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, I made a commitment to moving us forward, with our eyes on the prize of completing treatments and Cub once again being a healthy, happy little boy. Today is the one year anniversary of...

What I Didn’t Say — Shedding Light on the Realities of Childhood Cancer

When I posted on Facebook that we're taking Cub, my son, to the hospital because he has a fever, I didn't say that whenever his temperature reaches 100.4, we are supposed to have him to the hospital within 1 hour so broad spectrum antibiotics can begin being administered through his port immediately, or we might not...