The following is an excerpt from my memoir. I still often think about “that time” when my mother was dying from metastatic breast cancer. The memory is part of what drives me to continue advocating. Time is an elusive thing, and yet, time is everything.
Grief
Do you remember your very first loss? I don’t mean when you lost or misplaced something you cared about, I mean the first time you lost someone or something you truly loved. The first loss I recall is when our much loved black and brown dachshund named Penny died when I was ten years old. …
As I’ve mentioned before, February is a loaded month for me. It’s a month heavy-laden with dates and reminders. February was when cancer, the uninvited guest, first came calling and never “left the table”. February 2008 was when my mother’s metastasized cancer took an ugly turn for the worse and we reluctantly admitted her into …
I think about my mother a lot during the holidays; there’s a lot to remember and a lot to miss. My mother was not only “the queen of good-byes,” she was the “queen of the holidays.” If you are missing a loved one this holiday season, too, you might be interested in reading an earlier …
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s sort of a shame how it’s sandwiched in there between Halloween and Christmas. Maybe a different month would have been a better choice. But then there is that whole harvest theme…. Sometimes Thanksgiving doesn’t seem to get the “respect” it deserves.