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Coaches Change Lives
I know that teachers have the power to change lives, but as my girl gets to the middle school years, I am really starting to think the power is with the coaches. I have always wanted my daughter to be...
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Compassion Saves the Day!
Instinct. I don’t know why I second guess her instinct. Maybe one day I’ll learn. We arrived in Manhattan early. We dropped Mom off so she could get to her appointment. We parked the car at a better...
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First Pitch!
We don’t watch many sports in my house. Meghan’s sport of choice is swimming. So it came as a little surprise when she was asked by the Borough President if she’d like to throw out the first pitch at a...
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Life begins… at the edge of your comfort zone…
Roller Coasters Nope, not us. No way. No how. Terrifying. Not going to happen. Until last week. Something clicked inside her head, and she decided that she had come to conquer. There was a pit in...
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“A tranquil mind is not a little gift…”
Growing up I didn’t spend a lot of time with my father. Despite some really fun day trips, I didn’t really know him well at all. My Mom married an incredible guy when I was in high school, and there...
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Random Acts of Kindness
With the recent ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, we have seen ingenuity lead to a spike in funds and awareness for a horrendous disease. Fundraising for the organization is at an all-time high. I hope,...
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Soft Lock Downs and other things that shouldn’t be…
I spent the weekend with my college roommate. She was the one I lived with the longest. She was the one who introduced herself to me the first day. She held me 2 months later as I was wracked in...
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It’s following me….
Much like the Cowden’s Syndrome that will never go away, that will follow us for all our days, the pile stalks me. I swear it mocks me. Sometimes when I am not looking, and other times right in front...
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Vascular Road Maps and other Cowden’s adventures…
I sometimes hate the saying that things work out the way they are supposed to. Sometimes I just don’t buy it. But, then there are other times. I have suffered with varicose veins since I was in my...
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Wrong list…corrected and redirected!
It wasn’t too long ago in conversation with my husband that we started to talk about all the things that have gone on in our lives in the last 2+ years. The life changing diagnoses of Meghan and I and...
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Grandma Gen
My friend in Australia reached out this week. My “blogging buddy” sensed the silence meant things had gone awry. Continents away; she knew. She was right. Writing is my release, my sanity, my way of...
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Absolutely, Positively, Negative.
I am rarely given a straight answer on anything. Last December as my Dad was dying he made a request. He asked that we be tested for genetic pancreatic cancer. My grandpa had it, my dad had it. It...
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Kid of Achievement!
Today I turned 41. And while I am incredibly grateful for the gift of life, and for “More Birthdays,” as the American Cancer Society once put it, my birthday holds all sorts of emotional challenges...
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Plot Twist!
We are thinking we are far from alone in appreciating this Facebook post from the Global Genes Project. I mean these days it seems more than ever, I barely talk to someone whose life isn’t taking...
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I used to be afraid of roller coasters
I used to be afraid of roller coasters, and their short, fast twisting, turning excitement. Then I realized roller coasters and life have a lot in common. So I started riding them, cause really -what...
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Gratitude
Gratitude. It’s always a good time to be grateful. Especially Thanksgiving week with catastrophe averted. Even full of memories from a year ago, I feel gratitude. Just a week ago I wrote a post...
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Christmas Letter 2014
In December 2013 I was in no state to put out a Christmas card. Dad had died – today, December 4th. My heart hurts. They day was tough to contend with. Memories are a comfort and a source of agony....
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… some rain must fall.
Last summer we invested in a new roof for the house. I’ve never regretted it. Truth be told we had no choice. There were leaks and dry rot. All sorts of potentially serious places for significant...
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All Dogs go to Heaven…
Although there is some debate on that, I stand with Billy Graham. We lost our Allie Girl today. And just when I thought there couldn’t be anymore sadness, our hearts are broken in half. Allie found...
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Pain is temporary….
At least I hope so. I vaguely remember a shirt my older sister used to wear when she was swimming. The message was something like this. It was motivational, meant I am sure to remind the young...
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