I read a book called "Warrior Queens" in college, and attended an event hosted by the author, Lady Antonia Fraser , who discussed the topics of her book: women who defied history (and odds) to challenge the status quo of the hand they'd been dealt. Boadicea of the Celts, Elizabeth I of England, Isabella of Spain, all woman who led their people against the threat of foes, foreign or domestic. (All Loud Girls , in my opinion.) Were Lady Fraser to add an addendum to her book, i

I wrote this letter to myself on March 24, 2011 in my diary. It was the week Ken was in the hospital before being released to come home for hospice care where he died on June 1. It was one day after our 10th anniversary, and the week we learned definitively that the cancer had returned, and nothing could stop it. Both mind-blowing and mind-numbing, I did my best to wrap my brain around what the weeks to come would be like. It was always so easy for Ken to take care of me whe

I always approach the Creticos Cancer Center with great reverence. For all the caring work that is done there by the nurses and staff. And all the courage shown by the patients who are treated there, as well as their families. Though it's now housed in a brand new state-of-the-art building across the hospital campus from the one Ken received treatment in, it's still feel like a home--of sorts--to me because so many of the same smiling faces greet me when visit. Per my annu