For in grief nothing “stays put.” One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats. Am I going in circles, or […]

When I was in the sixth grade, I traveled with my parents to Brazil. We journeyed with a small group from our church to visit missionaries we supported […]

I started going to the Clinic with my parents as my mother’s disease progressed. It was grueling.  It began with the long van ride (with no shocks) and […]

“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various (poikilos: many-colored) trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James 1:2 & 3   Our family once […]

My mom was funny. The way she saw the world during her sickness kept us kinda-sorta sane. She was always looking for the teaching moment in every situation. […]

This week I watched a youtube video of Joni Eareckson Tada. At 17 years old, Tada dove into a lake that broke her neck, which left her quadriplegic. […]

This post shows the wide range of emotions my mother experienced throughout her ALS journey. Every day for ALS patients brings new changes, losses, and unexpected challenges. We […]

Most of my mother’s days during her illness (and health) were filled with this type of fun. She loved to sanctify time and celebrated the people God placed […]

I began reading and re-reading my mom’s blogs since she died in 2016. Her words have continued to shape me as an adult (what a gift). This blog […]

This might be a good time to point out my mother’s writing style in her posts and how I’ve decided to present them. At first, my mother wrote […]

The day after Thanksgiving, the year before my mom was diagnosed, we were shopping for Christmas trees. As a side note, she said to me, “By the way, […]

We sat in her garden on my mom’s 60th birthday, enjoying the day. She said, “Quick! Take a picture of me! This is what 60 looks like!” It’s […]

Norman Cousin’s, author of Anatomy of an Illness, once stated that he made the “Joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter would give me at least […]

I still don’t want to talk about Clinic. Clinic was brutal. Often other ALS patients would be waiting for their appointment in the waiting room. Many times, those […]

“Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.”― C.S. […]

My mom could not carry a tune. She rarely remembered words to songs. In typical Susan fashion, she would confidently make things up if she didn’t know something.  […]