Tag Archive for: cancer

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

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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…
Christine Flagler

The gift of living with cancer

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Christine was first diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 39, and when it recurred at 42, her doctors told her she probably wouldn’t survive. Now, at 80, she’s lived with cancer for more than half her life. “When I didn’t die…
Lori Tupper

The tightrope

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Every morning, I wake up and walk the line to the bathroom (as most people do), but two years ago, when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, the line became a tightrope. My balance became very important to me as the cancer…
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…

Let the Sacred Festivities Begin

Christina Baldwin was the "sacred emcee" at Kelly Lindsay's celebration of life. What follows is her introduction, which makes more sense if you kept up with Kelly's CaringBridge blog. Christina and Ann Linnea are founders of The Circle Way…
Veins of a leaf

Poems and Essays Written in Honor of Kelly

Gathering by Gary Vallat (written after a massive circle for Kelly that took place at Soundview Center) For Kelly and Diana Lindsay The crowd enters the sanctuary milling about appreciating the beauty of the place, anticipating the…

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.