June is an emotional month. Four years ago, in a span of just 22 days I underwent a mammogram, breast ultrasound, biopsies, MRI, further biopsies, genetic testing, diagnosis, and then a mastectomy. It was a whirlwind of fearful emotions. It was all too raw and real. And each June I relive these moments – these cancerversaries – yet with each…
Courage
I recently had my mammogram. This particular test causes considerable scanxiety within me. In the weeks leading up to, and the days that follow afterward, I feel a great sense of restlessness, angst, apprehension, and vulnerability. Though the mammogram itself is bearable – it is the psychological link to remembering what occurred 4 years ago that I find arduous. I…
This has been an emotional week of good-byes for me. Three big partings. Three momentous endings. My mother, a proprietor of a beautiful Home Decor & Giftware store has retired. This is the final week of business. On Sunday, her doors will close forever. It is a realization that is hard to comprehend. I’ve watched her grow her store into…
Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once. – Paulo Coelho I am struggling. I am struggling with the long, cold, harsh, bleak days hanging down on us. I am struggling because this time of year brings back vivid memories that are hard to…
Today is Valentine’s Day. Fourteen years ago, on this day, I went on a date that altered my life forever… In my posts I talk a lot about cancer, about my own personal strifes, and about the challenges of being a Mom. But today, I want to talk about marriage. Truthfully, I have talked about my marriage before in my…
And so the dreariness continues. It seeps into my everyday and the weight of it bears down on me. These winter days are harsh, unrelenting, unpredictable, and exhausting. We don’t have the cold, bright blue skies and glistening snow to be able to go outside and enjoy the season – no snow forts, no snow angels, no tobogganing… as I…
Today I want to celebrate a remarkable lady. Her name was Margaret Anne Hall. Annie. She was my Little Grandma. I got to know my Little Grandma during her own fight against cancer. I was young and impressionable, and in the time that she lived with us, she taught me many lessons. She taught me how to iron and…
This summer by the river at the cottage – a place of healing and serenity – I was fortunate enough to have a heart-to-heart with a very special person. She is someone I cherish who has traversed her own breast cancer journey. She understood my fatigue, my adversities, and the side-effects, because she too experienced her own, and she gently…
It is autumn. As the leaves slowly change colour, and the air becomes crisp and lively, and the days grow shorter I am inspired to clean; that kind of cleaning most people enjoy doing in the latter weeks of spring, I also enjoy doing in the early weeks of autumn. With the start of the school year and with winter…
I find myself in a restless place of reflection. Today is the 17th Anniversary of 9/11. A day that most people around the world will never forget – especially North Americans. Terrorist attacks, war, large-scale violence – these were all things reported about from the other side of the world, but not something you expected to witness in peaceful North…