Everything changed on Friday, February 17, 2017. Tom and I were sleeping in, only to be awakened by the doorbell, where one of my brothers stood to offer to drive me to the hospital to see Grandma because I hadn’t been answering my text messages. One of my uncles had made his daily morning phone […]
My Mom Made Chocolate Pie
It’s a pretty simple pie. It’s chocolate pudding in a pie crust, and my mom makes her own pie crust. It’s been a holiday staple (Thanksgiving and Christmas) since I was a kid. But this was the first chocolate pie my mom had attempted to make since my dad died last year. Because my dad […]
Why We Shouldn’t Even Be Considering Spanking as 21st Century Parents
This started out as a conversation about spanking on a friend’s Facebook wall a few weeks ago, Emily Jones from Colorado Moms. I copied and pasted my comments into a new blog post here, saw that I’d typed up nearly 800 words already, and figured that a few tweaks to make it more coherent without […]
Quiet on My Blog, But Not in My Head
It’s been a rough month or so. May 30 was the first time we had to recognize my dad’s birthday without him. A week and a day later, we remembered him on the first anniversary of his death. I have been in a perpetual state of depression for so long. I thought I might start […]
Enjoying the Journey – Returning to Universal Orlando for Family Forward 2014
We had the delight of attending last year’s Family Forward Retreat by Mom It Forward, and we’re going back for this year’s event! This year, we’ve decided to make it a surprise for TJ. His ninth birthday is the Sunday before we leave, so we’ve been teasing him that we’re not getting him any presents […]
Tribulation Misconceptions – Some of My Dad’s Thoughts about Faith
This is one of the documents my dad left on his computer. The images were added by me to illustrate the text. My initial spiritually inspired thoughts and scriptural references to support them I believe some misconception may be due to a misunderstanding of the word “chasten” From: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chasten chas·ten transitive verb : to cause […]
God and Mantle Cell Lymphoma
This is one of the documents my dad left on his computer. chas·ten transitive verb \?ch?-s?n\ : to cause (someone) to feel sad or embarrassed about something that has happened When I was young, I wasn’t sure about whether I should believe in God. I had gone to Sunday School, but wasn’t sure about confirmation. I […]
A Timeline of Dad’s Mantle Cell Lymphoma Regimens
Dad had kept track of all of his treatment regimens in hopes of helping other Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) patients understand their treatment options. I copy/pasted his documentation faithfully, although adding emphasis and links where appropriate and fixing the formatting. Anything in [brackets] was added by me for potential clarification. Chemo Regimens for my Mantle […]
Unfinished Letter from My Dad
I have always said that you were my first miraculous answer to prayer. That is not necessarily completely accurate. More precisely, you are my first “recognized” miraculous answer to prayer; and that answer hasn’t totally been completed, but parts of it are still a work in progress. While a few parts haven’t been fulfilled in […]