Tag Archives: cancer
My Radiant Light
My close friends know that I lost my mother to ovarian cancer. They don’t know that five years later, I lost my brother to a fatal accident — and that within months of his passing, my father also died, his … Continue reading
My Mother’s Charms
When I was 8, my parents’ arranged marriage dissolved. My mother, Mei-Lin, moved to California and into the background of my life. When I was 32, she died of lung cancer, two days before Mother’s Day. Never a smoker, but … Continue reading
A Note From a Stranger
I sat crying in a Nashville emergency room, more than 9,000 miles from my Australian home. I was having a bad reaction to a medication. A gray-haired woman across the room looked at me with kind eyes. As the nurse … Continue reading
Mother’s Love
In the winter of my 40th year, I received a cancer diagnosis that required major surgery. I packed my hospital bag and kissed my spouse, toddler and baby goodbye. While there, a Canadian storm pelted the area with every precipitation … Continue reading
Rely on Pets and Friends
This is a particularly bad time for me. I do not have any family. My husband died of dementia about 6 years ago. I am losing a close friend to cognitive issues and another to cancer. I am the cranky … Continue reading
Real Life of an MSW 