Friday Tidings

My nine-year old daughter was resting upstairs in the Children’s Hospital intensive care. She’d had a successful heart surgery to repair a birth defect and would remain under close watch for the next week. My husband and I were taking turns with our two-year-old son, so I decided to take him to one of the many hospital playrooms. Pushing open the door, the room looked empty—but then I noticed a bald child sitting at a table quietly stacking blocks. My son quickly found a car and began pushing it over the floor, the tables, and windowsills making all the appropriate car noises. I looked over to the little boy and noticed that while he was little, he wasn’t that young. He didn’t seem to mind the interruption of a healthy, noisy two-year old. The boy’s arms were bruised from the frequent the needle pokes of the cancer treatments. His pale skin was nearly translucent making it even easier to see the veins beneath his skin. Yet, his smile defied his appearance. I smiled back...

My ultimate spring break was my junior year in high school. I took an extra week (which meant taking my homework with me) and flew to Florida to stay with my aunt. She taught at the University of Florida so she had several of her students show me the sights. Did they ever. College students know how to do spring break.....but it was mild by today's standards.      For me, spring break always meant sleeping in, looking at the calendar and seeing the end in sight. Warmer days were coming without all the homework hassle. Spring break gave me just enough of a boost to get through the rest of the school year.  Hey students: Enjoy it, relish it, and savor your unfettered lives for the time that you have remaining. I hope spring break rejuvenates you. Keeping up with the heavier expectations is tough. In so many ways school will make the difference in what happens in your life after you graduate. If I had one wish, it would be that ea...

My husband was just a bit past forty when he donned a Major League baseball uniform and played on the Mariner’s first Fantasy Baseball team. For the price of a vacation, Thom hit the practice fields all day while our family got a glimpse of the Big Show. Hosted at the same Peoria, Arizona baseball complex where the Major Leaguers practiced, it felt more real than a fantasy. Coached by former big leaguers, it just added to the aura of fame and fortune. We dined and slept in the same hotel as these legendary athletes, but none of them had the haughtiness that sometimes comes with elite status. Noticing our eight-year-old son’s admiration and love of baseball they took extra time to coach and encourage him. To this day, passion for sports still fuels many of his dreams. Of course we didn’t know it then, but because our family was getting older and busier...this was the last real vacation our family ever took together.  But for that one special week, we w...

My visits to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance always give me a wake-up call for living.  Step inside and you’ll notice that life is no longer the same for many. Visible signs like hair loss and chemo ports in chests distinguish some. Others bear weariness from months of treatment. I take my seat next to the floor-to-ceiling windows and gaze out at Seattle’s Lake Union. I’ve been here enough to have seen every imaginable weather outside those amazing windows, but the view never fails to impress me. And I’m thankful for the medical care I’ve had. When I met with my oncologist a few years back, she gave me three options. The first was a preemptive mastectomy. The second was a five-year plan of preventative cancer treatment. Or #3 was to radically change myself. I chose option three. I now have a dietician, an exercise specialist, and three doctors who x-ray and test me frequently enough that I have time to revisit Option 1 or 2 if need be. So far, I am a model...

It starts young. Some do it privately, others publically. Some do it at home. What happens there can alter the course of our life…it’s school. In an effort to raise academic standards our federal government established the Department of Education. Many have argued that it became just one more level of bureaucracy with minimal success.  I’m a taxpayer in a rural school district. State and federal dollars don't cover all the school costs, so I just voted to raise my taxes to help fill those deep holes. We don’t seem to argue that students deserve a good education; the question remains how. I’m not a teacher, but I respect the ones I know. While others spend their evenings relaxing, they are often making lesson plans and grading papers. And they don’t teach to get rich. All the new mandatory testing seems to rank higher than sparking innovation—in both teachers and students. This century’s problems require young capable minds helping discover needed answers. ...

I received an email from my old college friend and it hurt to read his words. He wants me to remember the memories but he’s severing our friendship. Why? Because in the ensuing years, I remained a Christian and he became an atheist. He thoughtfully explained that religion has caused much of the world’s strife, malice, injustice and war. He hates religion and sees science as the only answer.  He cares deeply about injustice and  I have dozens of examples of his mental brilliance. To him, a better world is one without God.   His anger against those who believe in God stands between us. I've studied atheism, but now atheism has a new face. And I never imagined it would be his. His email came the day before Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. I find it ironic that Lincoln shares his birthday with Charles Darwin—a renowned atheist. The God-honoring Lincoln believed that all men were equal and is best known for his Emancipation Proclamation—setting the slaves f...

I’m honoring three anniversaries that I’d rather not.  These anniversaries remind me about what I’ve lost and what alcohol took away much too soon. I’m not pointing fingers here, except at myself and what I didn't do. Alcohol isn’t evil. But because of it, my innocent friend was killed on a lonely road by a drunk driver, leaving behind her devastated family. And I watched my parent's alcohol-related diseases slowly kill them. Alcohol is part of my life. I just wish it wasn’t. My parents were “functional” alcoholics. It didn’t cost them a day at work—but the price was paid in their home life and ultimately how long they lived. They worked hard in their careers and then alcohol gradually took their health and eventually their lives before they ever could enjoy retirement—or their grandkids. Growing up around alcohol l learned that life’s rough edges could be smoothed with a drink--or several. Alcohol can start out innocent enough but for some it’s quicksand. I...