Cancer continues to set me free, most recently from the trouble of forgiveness. Cancer has found its way to my liver and pancreas, and now my breasts, thyroid, rib, lung, pelvis, and uterus. This dear, sweet body of mine is disfigured and diseased. Tired. It is also still going. …

Death is a flirtatious heifer. Every time she peeks in at me, smiling in that way she has, I have to chuckle. I’m ready. Let’s go. Nope, she teases. Not time yet. Just checking in. …

I can be obsessive. Cancer has changed the focus of my obsessive attentions. I obsess now about death. News articles, opinion pieces, books, or songs about death grab my attention and tip my internal balance so that my heart becomes a fire-breathing monster, gnashing its teeth at my calm and…

Unconditional love ain’t easy. Somehow, he makes it look so. He is the one I walk to. When I could take only baby steps after my surgery or because … the pain (with nurses, physical therapists, and sometimes the surgeons themselves cheering me on — “C’mon, Allison! Take one more…

I am a gentle mother. I come by it honestly. My mom is a gentle mother. So was her mother, my Grandma. I am mothering again now, and this time I must be gentle with myself. Mothering is a privilege. Somehow, I was chosen. To walk with my kids from…

The nuggets of truth that certain platitudes bear at their core explain why those well-worn sayings endure. Life is short. Life is good. Live life to the fullest. One day at a time. …