Cynthia Clough with Italian flag in background

A culture of healing

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“Third culture kids” are children who are raised in a culture (or several) other than the one that is native to them. They grow up feeling that they don’t truly belong in their adoptive countries or in their country of origin. My father…
Mandala created by members of LWC 8

The traveling mandala

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Our Living with Cancer circle formed in 2020, when in-person support groups were rare. One of our members had tried other online cancer support groups, but ours was the one that stuck for her. We were creating bonds of support, love, and friendship,…
“Low tide at Brighton Beach” by Helen Haden.This photo is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Far apart, yet so close

Sitting on Brighton Beach and watching the large grey and white waves, I want to enter the sea and jump over each one. Childhood memories of doing so in warmer Mediterranean climates come flooding back. But I am no longer a child. I…
Polly Marshall with her dog Pumpkin and daughter Emilia

Preventing cancer while supporting those who have it

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I was diagnosed with invasive ductal breast cancer in 2009 at the age of 52, when both my children were teenagers. I had three surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation while trying to maintain my career as an attorney at a small housing and community…
Exploring the cancer journey by Lisa Peacock

Finding My Tribe

I need to build my own support network. The young neighbors who walk our dog Maude The NHS volunteer who’s in a rock band drives me to and from the hospital in their van The friend who gives me beeswax lip balm with kind messages—"bee…
Ferry to Vashon Island

Lifting the veil and encountering Truth

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You wouldn’t think a 37-square-mile area inhabited by 11,055 people would feel like a small town, but Vashon Island does–especially for someone like Gail Labinski. During her decades as a teacher, she has watched many an islander grow up…

Tributes to Kelly Lindsay

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Tributes from Healing Circles Langley Kitty Adams: Kelly’s mind was brilliant, but it was his warm welcome that drew me into HCL. In my raw state after the death of my husband, every time I walked through that door, Kelly greeted me with…

A Conversation with a Widow’s Nervous System

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The pain of loss is such an isolating experience, where the outside and inside of us are not aligned. We are out of sync with humanity, and yet we are inside an experience that each and every one of us will have.

‘I Am Rushing:’ a Mantra of Love and Memory

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I have just returned from spending time with a dear friend and her husband. They are living in what I have come to call “Illness Time” ­ not a period of time spent ill, but time itself defined by illness.

In Exile 

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Sharing moments from a tender counseling session with a bereaved mother, Janie Brown takes a strong and compassionate look at the impact of loss on our hearts and our lives. Do we actually “move on?” Do we actually “get over it?”