Everybody Has a Story

Waiting rooms are gathering places for people in transition. Last week, Dad and I met John and Anna from San Benito, Texas; they have moved in with their son here in Katy while Anna receives radiation. We also met a lovely mother –with three equally lovely, young children– who accompanies her mother to therapy. Overhearing [...]

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DEAR Time

“Do you have time to read our book?” Dad asks with a hopeful look. “Oh, yes!” I respond. Hurray! It’s Drop Everything And Read Time with Dad. In anticipation of Dad’s arrival in mid-November, I carefully selected books that I thought he would enjoy, and arranged them on a bookshelf within easy reach of his [...]

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Katy is the coolest!

The temperature on this beautifully gray Sunday is a chilly 49˚. Dad’s countenance is also overcast due to the Dallas Cowboys trailing the Eagles 17-3 at half-time. At first, I thought that Yahoo! Weather had scrambled the temperatures because it’s indicating 55˚ in both Hugo and Denison. A quick call to Mom confirmed the surprisingly [...]

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Deck the Halls

The corridors of the Katy branch of MD Anderson are decorated with numerous, large canvases painted by children receiving care at the Children’s Cancer Hospital at MD Anderson. The children’s art work is reproduced on greeting cards, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, clothing, stationery, and calendars. The money from the sale of these items enables current and [...]

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Happy Boxing Day to You!

Christmas Eve, Mark, Hannah and I attended a glorious, candle lighting service at Second Baptist, and Dad stayed home to listen to Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church service on FOX. Second Baptist trucked in several trucks of snow for children (and adults) who wanted to craft snowmen or throw snowballs on the parking lot. We opted [...]

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A Christmas Tradition for 90 Years

Years of teaching young children have taught me that the definition of tradition is anything that has been done one time. That’s how I felt three years ago today when I heard the Christmas Eve service, “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols,” performed by the staff and choir of King’s College, Cambridge, England, and [...]

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Engineering Radiation

Dad has very much appreciated the care package of snack foods and reading material that Uncle George and Aunt Twylah sent. Included was a recent issue of the magazine Cure—Cancer Updates, Research & Education that was especially interesting. Dad learned about the cutting-edge radiation treatment administered with three-dimensional conformed radiation therapy (3-D CRT) and its [...]

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The Harmonious Sounds of Christmas

For several years Hannah and I have begun listening to Christmas music in October. How else can we listen to a large selection of carols spanning more than six centuries? Last year we memorized “Good King Wenceslas” and this year we’re memorizing “King Jesus Hath a Garden.” Hannah can sing this Bohemian king’s name beautifully [...]

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Glug-in-a-Mug

One of the challenges that Dad faces is a lack of appetite for food of any kind. His oncologist sympathetically told him that this is the cancer talking to him. Morning after morning Dad declined all breakfast food suggestions except for a bowl of oatmeal. He assured me that if it was prepared with lots [...]

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Life in the Waiting Room

Dad has successfully completed seven of fifteen prescribed radiation treatments. His oncologist guaranteed that he would suffer fatigue and a sore throat before it’s all over. So far, he has experienced varying degrees of fatigue which intensifies as the day progresses. Since the radiation beams are targeting a tumor located close to his esophagus, a [...]

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