Mt. Adams Bar and Grill

Mt. Adams Bar and Grill is a nice place to eat, since it is not expensive and the food is good. It is especially nice when your company is an energetic young woman, who is full of fun and good conversation. I have known Elizabeth for a very long time, but only in the past few years have we really become friends. She is around my daughters' ages, so this friendship is special to me, as both my daughters now live thousands of miles away. She just got married this summer and her life is coming into full flower, wonderful to see. And she shares some of it with me, which is such a beautiful gift. We talked about lots of things, and shared some chocolate cake a la mode. We made our way back down the city streets to her home, enjoying the evening, making plans for our next "date". I don't take for granted the sharing of our lives, both at very different places on the lifetime continuum. We share a love of God, of wanting to do good works, to make a difference in the world, finding God's plan. But even being in the center of God's will can be a tough place to stand...I want to make sure she knows to get enough ice cream, so she doesn't get tired. And I will always be ready to share whatever I have with her.

Last Days of Summer

Summer is the best season of the year...full of warm days, long lit evenings, family gatherings, watermelon and, of course, ice cream. Some folks live in summery places year round so it is not such a big deal, but in Ohio summer is special, mainly because it only lasts 3 or 4 months. We have a community pool where we live, and many times we have it to ourselves. It is not very big, but it is sparkly clean and the water is almost always the perfect temperature. In a few days, the sparkly clean, perfect temperature water will be spilled out onto the ground and we will have to wait for a very long time before we can swim in our pool again. So tonight, I swam and swam, trying to absorb every beautiful moment of the dipping orange sun and the greying sky. The sparkly clean, perfect temperature water supports my gliding strokes and makes such a wonderful slapping sound against the tiles. It is a friend that I love to hold on to, but cannot make stay. So I stay in the water until the last long ray of sun is gone.

Babes at the Green Dog

One of my dearest buddies, Amy1 (I am Amy2) started a support group of sorts for us cancer girls. We almost all have the same doctor, almost all have the same cancer, and almost all are cancer free. Except for us Amys. We all get together regularly to share a meal and share our stories, sometimes serious, most times not. Amazing how the joy of laughter can ring out on the darkest day, breaking the grip of fear. Today we met at the Green Dog Cafe on Columbia Parkway and ate brunch and listened to Amy1 tell of her trip to MD Anderson in Texas. She is the reason we all know each other, she has had cancer for a long time, and she is the youngest one of us. We all love her and you can feel the love right back, her quick smile and bright laugh the best medicine for us. We are a company of strong and brave women in a corner of a busy restaurant; who could know what we have all faced and suffered through and still to laugh and talk about our hopes for the future. We share a common path, we are a sorority, Babes. Thank you, Amy1.

Cotton Candy

I made cotton candy today at Odysseafest at 4 Corners Church. I love making cotton candy, almost as much as I love eating it. Odyssea is the name of our church's Children's program. Last weekend I was the 1st/2nd grade teacher for second service. I was feeling some sorrow that day, as my daughter was on her way back to Florida, after a wonderful 4 day visit. I felt the weight of that, and the cancer, and the fact that my husband still had not found a job. I stood in the back of the room at the end of first service, and cried during the last worship song. I headed back to the childrens' room for the start of second service. It was very busy, and toward the end of the hour we herded the children into the main room to watch the baptisms, as is our custom. We sat on the floor at the front, one little boy was reclining on my leg, and a little girl had chosen to sit in my lap. The worship team began singing the same song that, only 90 minutes before, had brought tears to my eyes, but this time I only felt joy. My daughter was still flying far away, I still had cancer, my husband was still without a job...nothing had changed except that now I felt loved by two small children, and the God who made us all.

Dismantling the Mountain

Sherry and Donna accompanied me to chemo today, which was a wonderful gift. Donna recently moved to a smaller house and she is struggling with how to fit her old house into her new house. We talked about downsizing and curating the memorabilia of our lives. How ironic that we spend the greater part of our adult lives assembling a mountain of things, only to see that we must dismantle it once our children have left, our health or finances have changed, our social circle has tightened. We are at once the curators of family heirlooms and keeper of family memories. We all seem to have an innate need to preserve our lives into the future, as if, by the presence of our stuff in other's lives, we can continue to live. What folly! Better to make the memory today, with the stuff of good conversation, coconut cream pie and coffee, and hugs. Stored in the very fiber of our souls, to sustain and cultivate friendships that are present every day, providing support to our lives. Dismantling the mountain of things, we find the best treasures, not in boxes, but in the love inside that puts joy in our hearts.

A New Day

I have had ovarian cancer for over 3 years, and I am glad to be alive. I am still getting chemotherapy to keep the cancer quiet. I have been up and down with this disease, and I have had enough of that. My pastor, Sam Luke, once said: I have been happy and I have been sad...I would rather be happy. So this blog will explore how to do that.
It came to me one day, while watching my husband eat a large ice cream cone, that ice cream cannot be eaten slowly. It must be eaten fast enough to stay ahead of its transformation back into lowly milk and sugar. So, as fast as it is wonderfully in your hands, and on your tongue, it is gone.
How can one deal with the loss of such a great treat? Have ice cream everyday...
Now, I like ice cream as much as the next person...but I don't long for it when I don't have any. What I do long for is the joy that comes from the pleasure ice cream gives in it's taste, and it's cold trickle down the throat on a hot afternoon. So daily ice cream doesn't have to be ice cream at all...just something that brings joy to the soul...whatever that may be...today.