As part of one lesson, I ask students to think about a family incident or story that has been on their minds. Some of their stories deal with conflicts that came with the trials and frustrations of cancer diagnosis and treatment. I often tell about the son of one of my closest friends who said he felt it was “too depressing” to visit his father in the hospital where he was battling cancer. When the father recovered, their relationship had [ ... ]

Janet looks at her second bout of cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and her stem cell transplant as her second chance at life. It has been nine years and she still considers it a gift.
What one person might view as a blessing, someone else might see as a curse. What they both might agree on, though, are the words, “It is better to give than to receive.” The irony is, of course, you receive far more in return by giving.
Gifts can be [ ... ]

Two simple words — thank you — are often the most difficult to say. When someone compliments an item of our clothing, it is rare for us to just say, “Thank you.”
Much more common is, “Oh, this old thing?” or “I got it on sale.”
We sometimes have to practice saying, “Thank you!” Period.
A friend and I have a running joke about this and when one of us does something nice for the other and the recipient starts to say, “Oh, [ ... ]

Since 2001, I have been teaching writing to cancer patients, their family members, doctors, nurses, caregivers, and others who may have suffered tragic events in their lives.
Writing for Wellness classes are held at the City of Hope National Cancer Center in Duarte, California, the site Lance Armstrong, one of the world’s most famous cancer survivors, chose to start his 2004 cross-country bicycle tour for cancer awareness.
My experience began a few days following 9/11 when I was walking on the City [ ... ]

Many people walk through the doors of a church broken-hearted, confused, frustrated, angry, grieving, unforgiving, alone in their loss, and struggling, and are in need of an outlet for expressing their emotions. They are looking for a way to express what they are feeling and experiencing as they try to make sense of a loss of health or problems with a spouse, children, relationships, or sometimes a combination of crises.
Many attend church looking for a sense of community and finding [ ... ]