A year ago on St Patrick’s Day, my friend, Joe, and I were driving to the DC Veterans’ hospital for Covid vaccines. I had lucked out and gotten my first shot space-available (remember the early vaccine days when age- or pre-existing conditions restrictions made getting vaccinated challenging?). On the way to the hospital, Joe was…
Every two weeks, I had been returning to the infusion center at Georgetown. Outside the window, I watched the ongoing construction project. Inside the hospital, I’m hoping for tumor destruction, as measured by lab results and scans. Until January, progress had been more of a mixed bag than advancement like the building’s. Now, growth and…
“Pioneer Passage is a truly delightful, meaty read that will satisfyany reader who enjoys an excellent adventure exceptionally welltold.” reviewer Grant Leishman for Readers’ Favorite Having already read the second story in this saga, I wasfamiliar with the principal characters of the Wright family andauthor J.F. Collen uses this iteration to expand on and emphasizethe…
What a magical wintery night to launch my new book, the third in the Journey of Cornelia Rose Series. We had the comfort of space heaters and great, newly improved fabrics to keep us warm, unlike the characters in my book who faced the rough winter cold in wet wool coats and soggy mittens. As…
Be aware: deadline ahead. The doctors that I saw in Fall 2021 were pretty clear: pancreatic cancer is deadly. Two different oncologists explained that without surgery, the outlook for this cancer is usually less than a year. In my experience, most doctors aren’t so forthcoming with prognostic pronouncements, but the research seems consistent. Information extracted…
Norman Rockwell was an American painter whose images evoked an idealized vision of “traditional” American values. For almost 50 years, he illustrated covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Even if you don’t know Rockwell’s name, you would probably recognize some of the images that he painted, including a series of four freedoms inspired by President…
At the beginning of January, we visited Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) and watched the guard-changing ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. The Tomb Sentinels are dedicated to their duty. No matter if it’s cold, steamy, or stormy, the mission continues 24/7, as it has since 1937. As we observed the somber ceremony and…
We had just gotten back from a chemo-pump-disconnect appointment at the infusion clinic when my husband got a text telling him our flight the next morning was canceled. My diagnosis makes each trip to visit our son’s family poignant and pressing. It’s not only wondering “Will I feel good enough to travel?” but also “Will…
My Index Card Cure co-blogger Jane’s new book was just released. Check out PIONEER PASSAGE by JF Collen Cornelia Rose thought leaving the comforts of home and her family would be the greatest ordeal she would ever face… and then she encounters buffalo, quicksand, mountain fever, and old beaus. Life on the Oregon Trail is…
In between the first and second years at West Point, cadets head to Camp Buckner for field training — “the best summer of your life.” Recondo (RECONnaissance commanDO) was a multi-day limits-testing experience with bivouacking, patrolling, maneuvering in the dark, and survival lessons. Not to mention mountaineering, digging foxholes, defending positions, poncho rafts, chicken-killing, and…
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