Keeping Her Legacy Alive

Every person touched by my co-blogger, Joan Mary Smith Grey, continues to spread her good virtues! Many of her ‘sisters’ have contacted me, on this, her birthday, connecting with her compassion and lessening our pain at losing her physical presence. Befriend a ‘Sister’. Joan made it her job to connect with women. She met people…

By the numbers…

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…

Everyday miracles

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…

Warrior spirit

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…