July 9th, 2010 | Published in General Interest | 7 Comments
Did you know that we have on the average between 42,000 and 60,000 thoughts a day? This includes the hours that we are asleep. I was amazed at this finding. So how do thoughts work? Our thoughts come into our brains and after some time there is an emotion that is attached to it. After a while its is stored in our subconscious. Read the rest of this entry »
June 30th, 2010 | Published in Caregiving, General Interest | 3 Comments
It will be 16 years this summer that my mom passed away from metastatic breast cancer. She was loud, warm and very opinionated woman, who had a way about her that made each person in her life feel extremely loved and very special. I spent a tremendous amount of time with her in the last few months before she passed away.
We had many conversations that were deep and profound. One of the last things she said to me was, “Sharon, walk your own path”. At the time I was
35 years old, and I “thought” I knew exactly what she meant. It took me about 7 – 10 years to begin to see what my mom was really saying to me.
Sixteen years later, I see the deeper meaning. It came to me this past week as I was walking a labyrinth. One of my dear girlfriends had been asking me for weeks to go with her. I was always to busy. Life has a way of creating synchronicity and I realized that I needed to go.
A labyrinth is not a maze. It is a winding spiral path to the center. When you reach the center you walk the spiraled path outward. It is a true metaphor for the journey of life.
I walked the labyrinth. What was so interesting was along the way you need to stop because the person in front of you has stopped. Sometimes you stop should to shoulder. Other times people literally move out of the way for you. When you reach the center, you journey outward. On the way back you come face to face with other people on their way to the center, and the dance
begins again.
As the very end of the labyrinth, my mothers’ words came to me.
Walk your own path.
I realized that we really do walk our own path. Each in a different place in life, to either stop us to learn patience, to realize that we may need to walk around obstacles or bump right into them, learn that we can be shoulder to shoulder and still be in different places in life. The most important meaning is that the journey is never traveled alone.
When you walk your own path, you are discovering your true self. Once you reach the center, you now begin the journey of taking that discovery out into the world. Along the way their are people on their own paths, helping each other to discover different meanings, teach us to grow and realize that each of our paths is unique, and one in the same.
April 1st, 2010 | Published in Caregiving, General Interest | 8 Comments
Put on Your Oxygen Mask First!
Have you been on a plane and heard the flight attendant tell you to put on your oxygen mask first? The immediate response is, “No way, I need to take care of my kids (husband, mother, best friend, stranger in the seat next to me…). The idea clashes with our instinct.
March 21st, 2010 | Published in Cancer, General Interest
We celebrated Juana today exactly the way she would have wanted. Great music, great food, good people with a lot of laughter. It was sad and happy all at the same time.
March 4th, 2010 | Published in Cancer | 1 Comment
I have been experiencing the rollercoaster ride of grief and loss. It’s been a real ride, and on tuesday at 2 am. My girlfriend Juana past away. It is 1 year ago that she was first diagnosed with cancer. She was and still is a unique person.
January 29th, 2010 | Published in Cancer
The last few weeks have been a real rollercoaster ride. Juana and I have ridden the rollercoaster together. So many emotions and feelings, ups and downs. We laugh, we joke, and underneath is tremendous sadness and helplessness.
January 19th, 2010 | Published in General Interest
Juana and I have been spending a lot of time together. Some of the time is spent driving back and forth to doctors offices, sitting at the doctor, talking to the doctors. We have the oncologist, the heart specialist and pain management.
January 12th, 2010 | Published in Cancer
If it’s tuesday, it must be a doctor day. Juana and I went to Dr. Andriulli, her heart doctor of 12 years. She has been experiencing alot of pressure in her chest and radiating pain. Juana has died and come back so many times in the past due to her heart stopping that we joke about it. She has a defibulator and a pacemaker in her.
January 11th, 2010 | Published in Cancer
It will be 1 year tomorrow that my stepdaughters mother passed away from pancreatic cancer. A year that was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, feelings and thoughts for them. These young women were now in the process of rebuilding their lives without their mother. They have struggled along the way.
January 7th, 2010 | Published in Cancer, General Interest | 2 Comments
We went to the oncologist this past tuesday. Bright and early in the morning, something that Juana is totally allergic too. We both commented on what a beautiful morning, and how extremely cold. Did i mention that Juana is allergic to cold too?
