THE RISE AGAIN BLOG

Photo credit: NBC Last night I was watching Chicago Fire, an episode where one of the main characters, Hermann, goes into a burning building with a friend & fellow firefighter from another house. In a split second trying to save a man trapped inside, the two men are separated in the smoke & Hermann makes it out alive, but his friend doesn’t. There’s this scene where Hermann is staring in the mirror in the bathroom, wrecked over this death, just hours after it happened, and hi

I want to start a new club. Who wants to join? Everyone? Great!!!!! It’s called The Brave and Brokenhearted Club. Think you belong in it? Here are the qualifications for admission: A) You are human. B) You’ve had your heart broken. C) You are still living and breathing and walking around on a planet with your broken heart, knowing it could be smashed into pieces again anytime. You are still daring to be in relationship with other human beings who may get sick, or struggle, or

To the Mama who is fighting silently… To the Mama who is suffering in silence…who wakes up every day feeling already weighed down by a ten ton weight… Who slogs herself through making lunches, barking orders, breaking up fights among the kids, all while feeling sick or sad or lonely or angry or depressed… To the Mama silently suffering from an illness or struggle no one can see…that she thinks no one can understand… Who hides in the shadows quietly working to heal herself, to

“No One Fights Alone” is the mantra for Brain Cancer warriors. I think it should be a mantra for life. Written 5-15-15 I have so much joy in my heart today. I am beyond blessed. I am so grateful for my family and friends, the heroes in my life, the lovers and fighters who I see braving their own battles fiercely each day. When times get really tough we have to look even harder for joy. Sometimes the best way to create joy when you’re drowning is to throw someone else a rope.

obyvatel/ stock.xhcng Cancer sucks. In fact, if I were honest, and willing to be profane, I would give Cancer a solid tongue lashing right now. I would fling multiple curse words at it because it has burned its hot branding into the lives of my loved ones far too much in the last three years. In 2008, Cancer began an endless stretch of its slimy paws so close, so encroaching, and so frequently into my life, it felt like it’s sole purpose was to greedily rape my soul and break

In my last post, I told you there would be a BIG announcement coming soon. It perfectly explains why I accidentally took a pretty long hiatus from the work I’ve been trying to do in the world here on this blog. I was reading an article in a magazine at the doctor’s office recently and a line struck me – it spoke about all of one’s creative energy going to one project, and leaving little to give in other areas of life. Well, all my creative energy has been going somewhere late

We spent the evening in the ER with our daughter last night – suffice it to say, her ear drum ruptured and she’s been dealing with some serious on-going tummy issues we’re trying to get to the bottom of. I find myself much more able to weather the storms these days, though, and be the eye of the hurricane, instead of the winds. Some cool, calm lady showed up at the ER last night – I don’t know where she came from, but they tell me she’s Kayta’s mother! I think maybe I’ve had

Editor’s Note: I’ve made some minor changes to this post, as I prepped Part 2 and new directions unfolded. When you are facing a hard circumstance, it may feel like a black cloud has settled over you, and you have become one with that cloud. Your life becomes a dark rain storm, pouring down deep drops of sorrow and suffering into your life. Perhaps you are going through a divorce, a job loss, facing financial issues, feeling the betrayal of a friend, or watching a loved one f

This is a true story that was shared with me recently. I have omitted last names to respect the family’s privacy, and re-written  to the best of my memory in the stunning of hearing such a moving story. Cathy’s husband Gary was one of our twelve. The twelve deaths in three years, I mean. He was like a second Dad to us in many ways. We always felt like part of their family. Gary was a tall man with piercing blue eyes, a salt and pepper beard, a sort of Sean Connery, get’s bett

I can hardly begin to compose myself to write this blog tonight. Today was – simply – one of the TOP 5 BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. Yup, weddings, babies, then today. That’s how my list would go. #499 on the invisible, unwritten Bucket List of my heart – completed. Eleven beautiful, stunning, ROCKSTAR Mamas walked into my life today, and changed me forever. They were in Sedona to be part of Camp Soaring Eagle’s Winter Oncology Retreat, designed specifically for families of children

I’m afraid to share what I have to say. I’m afraid of what you’ll think of me. I’m afraid you don’t want to hear it. Just incase you don’t know my story already…in the last three years TWELVE people in my life have died. I have sat at the deathbeds of five. I watched Cancer (and yes, in my book it gets freaking capitalized because it’s a monster) eat four of them alive, slowly and painfully. 90% of them were under the age of 50. One was five. If I averaged it out, I’ve been t

I’m not usually one to “create stories.” I believe that every story can be told many different ways. We make a choice with every word we speak, every thought we think, to create a “good” story or a “bad” story out of our lives, our current circumstances, our “dramas”. These stories often create suffering for us, because our perceptions are incorrect. We have ideas about what is good and bad, based on what society tells us, what our parents told us as children, and what we tel