We took a non-traditional approach to Thanksgiving this year–we celebrated a day early. It felt almost as realistic. By the end of the meal, we talked at the table, wondering how all that preparation ended in our stomachs in just under 15 minutes. We swiveled our near-empty glasses and lingered in our seats as long… Continue reading A New-Fashioned Thanksgiving: All Care For All
After 560 days, we were welcomed to the rock by Joel Hatch yesterday, where he first appeared in “Come From Away” as the mayor of Gander. What we weren’t expecting was just how cathartic that welcome would be. I have many ways to take this story, but if the writers could take 4,000 hours of… Continue reading 560 Days To Take A Gander At “Come From Away”
Twenty-three years ago today, Alex married an outlier. I was all dressed in white, so I looked like any other bride, but I stood out from the crowd in ways we were too young to understand. But Alex and I always lived on the outskirts; we did our own thing, or better yet, in the… Continue reading The Anniversary Special: An Outlier With A Twist Of People Pleaser
Sometimes life piles it on so thick you wonder how you’re still standing. At times like that, I need to remember to sit down, put the top down, and enjoy the colorful ride instead. It’s been so hard. I even missed my blog the week before last, and I was about to miss it again… Continue reading Joyriding Through Cancer & A Kaleidoscope First Year
We can’t go through life unscathed. Inevitably, we’ll be both patient and caregiver, or maybe both at the same time. Yet, it comes as such a big surprise. As if we weren’t expecting a health scare to disrupt our otherwise perfect lives. So maybe we should be asking ourselves, instead: which side are you on… Continue reading The Gift Exchange Somewhere Between Life & Death
Calling all you caregivers–be part of our creative team (the Ortiz treble makers) and help us write a song that matters. We work alone most of the time, Skylar and Alexandra don’t need me to write a song and publish it on their YouTube channel, and I stick to what I do best: writing my… Continue reading Mean Well–This Song’s For You (By You, Too)
At last, there’s a method to my madness! I finally figured out what I’ve been doing throughout my chemo journey; besides accumulating so many hats, beanies and caps, I didn’t have enough places to wear them all. There’s nothing like hindsight to realize I wrote to take the fear out of cancer and gladly played… Continue reading It’s A Chemo Wrap: Toss Up!
Sometimes life is hard, and when you’re excited, it’s going to get easy; it gets worse. Just like that. So Dad sends me a video of a girl who has a 2% chance of surviving cancer. She wrote a song, “It’s Okay,” and performed it on ‘America’s Got Talent.’ If the song wasn’t emotional enough,… Continue reading Can “I Believe” Too?
Mom always loved the rain. As a kid, her Dad would open the garage, and the two of them would sit and watch it rain. She did the same thing as an adult (well, not in the garage). Sometimes she’d even go outside and walk around the driveway and pick weeds. So she had a… Continue reading United Forever
But every chase needs a car, and so ours has baby car. Dad did a commercial and got the VW convertible in exchange when I was 17 years old, and she lived to a ripe old age to see Alex and me get married, and then some. She was a blue with purple highlights depending on… Continue reading A Steamy Valentine
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