Marion’s Garden of Hope
                   Last year’s garden was bleak,
                  A few annuals were all she could do,
                  Mammograms and Lumpectomies,  Radiation and Reconstruction
                  They took up most of her time.
 
                 This year’s sun is stronger and brighter,
                 She’s planting perennials now.
                 Gaillardia and Primula, Rudbeckia and Hosta,
                 Perennials for all those years to come!
 
I wrote that poem in 2007. It was written about my wife’s battle with Breast Cancer. Her mental strength through life’s tests, not just dealing with her Cancer, is what keeps me going. Death of an [ ... ]

Deep, deep inside us, are words, words just waiting and hoping to be released. They might not be about your Cancer, but they wait just the same.
This poem, written for last week’s meeting, dwells on a distant memory. But it reads as though it just happened.
 
 
Mom’s Heart Attack
 
My dad’s call came at night.
“No need to rush up here;
She’ll be all right.”
 
I left home with fears and hopes.
Orange and yellow woods lined the highway–
She was in the autumn of her [ ... ]

         Robin’s Smile
 She can’t clap with just one hand,
She can’t click her heels with just one leg,
But Oh, how she can smile!
 
Picture yourself meditating,
Calmed, refreshed.
Then you hear that tiny bell,
 
That’s Robin’s smile.
This is not specifically about Cancer; it’s about overcoming any adversity, overcoming it with grace. My wife and I were attending a 6 week workshop on living with a chronic condition. In the class was a young lady living with a condition which requires daily home dialysis, a condition [ ... ]

 
    Eileen lost her husband Gerry several years ago. She recently wrote this Christmas letter to him:
Dear Angel Pop,
 I hope after two years that you have earned your wings.  I remain here on earth faithful to your memory.
Many people give me advise “get involved” “be around other people”.  I am trying very hard, this past week I went to five social gatherings.  I enjoyed them for the time they lasted.  Reminds me of  song “What’s it all about Alfie?  Is [ ... ]

    How much is an extra 4 months of  life worth to you? Do you think it’s worth $93,000? A new treatment for Prostate Cancer costs that much. 
    That question is a Home Prompt our group is wrestling with between meetings. Each member is to assume they are advisors to a recently elected Congressman. He will be voting on a bill to allow Medicare to pay for such treatments. How should he vote? 
    Letters to the editor of The Washington [ ... ]