Good morning... It was hard to leave Ohio with my mother in the ICU. I had a meaningful visit with my parents and siblings, but I was deeply concerned about my mom's condition. On my final morning with her, the nurse asked her where she was and my mom replied, "I am at the Renaissance (the retirement community [...]
Good morning... On Monday morning, my dad and I were with my mom in the ICU when her regular doctor stopped in. He had seen my mom soon after she was admitted, when she was hooked up to all the machinery keeping her alive. Very, very sick with an unidentified infection, she was unresponsive and highly sedated. That [...]
Good morning... When we left my mom in the ICU, it was a blustery late March evening with light snowflakes swirling in the Ohio air. There was a strand of hope frozen in our minds: mom had opened her eyes for about five minutes. Then she had drifted away from us again. Sustained by the ventilator, her body [...]
Good morning... "It will be good for us all to be together," my sister said as I booked a one-way ticket to Cleveland, Ohio to be with my 83-year-old mom in the ICU. "We may need to make some hard end of life decisions." The reality was sobering. I had begun the normal day facilitating our Friday class [...]
Good morning... The photo above was sent with the email below. "Dear Sue," a close friend wrote. "You know well the agonies of parenthood as well as the joys, and your contacts are so wide. Please share as you are able and see fit. This message under Will's photo is from his mom, RuthAnn." "So much [...]
Good morning... This encouraging video was created last April by our author for this semester, Paula D'Arcy, and her seasoned spiritual friend, Khris Ford. Well worth five minutes of our time, the insights shared may be helpful for those personally struggling through grief and for those seeking to walk beside a loved one who is slowly trudging through. [...]
Good morning... Learning to care for loved ones who are struggling with depression, I deeply value the wisdom shared in chapter four in Parker Palmer's book Let Your Life Speak. On page 61, Parker candidly describes his own experience of being severely depressed in his forties. He helps us to know what NOT to say to our loved [...]
Good morning... "Can you pray for me?" she texted. "I talked to her kindly from my heart, but she did not take it well. She's not talking to me. She said she can't say anything right now. I know I have to give her space but it's hard, because I love and care about her. All I can [...]
Good morning... "Now with the Awake To Wholeness retreat behind us, might we celebrate your birthday season?" I texted a friend. (As I reflect, I realize that "behind" is the wrong word. It is more accurate to say, "Now with the retreat inside us, might we celebrate?") "And . . . I thoroughly enjoyed retelling the Saturday experience [...]
Good morning... Looking back over our weekend, so many multifaceted gifts were unwrapped at our Awake To Wholeness Women's Retreat. Musical meditations. Wise "Aha!" moments. For some of us, tenderizing tears. One tiny tangible gift was tied inside each napkin given with our yummy boxed lunches. A young girl from the church had hand-painted for each participant a [...]
