Having an attitude of gratitude has always been in my nature, but a cancer diagnosis has a way of intensifying a thankful heart. As many are preparing for Thanksgiving, shopping for the traditional dish ingredients, and making travel plans, my family and I are focused on living for today. I will soon begin the new chemotherapy regimen, Pacitaxel. The drug is the cousin to the first round of chemotherapy I started in August, which caused a rare and very painful allergic reaction. My oncologist (GOD BLESS THIS WOMAN!) is not confident I will make it through this one without a Trigeminal Nerve response; however, she wants to try it because it gives me the best odds of survival. She wants to complete 12 weekly rounds. Yet, she cannot promise I will not have a neuropathy reaction that could cause permanent painful damage, so she is monitoring me closely and dosing me with a lot of premedications to ensure we take every precaution we can....
As our children were growing up, we had dinner around the table every single night. Whether it was the actual table at home, a picnic blanket at a ballfield, or the tailgate as we traveled across the country, our kids knew there was no skipping a meal with all the faces around the table. It was imperative to raise kids who knew how to put away the rest of the world, eat with manners, and talk about their lives. We shared many laughs, debates, fears, hopes, dreams, and tears in that space. We took turns every night praying because we wanted our kids to know how to have a conversation with Jesus and to give thanks. We believed that families who eat together stay together because they can be real, learn to be vulnerable, share, and be part of a unit that cares for one another. We welcomed others to the table often and hope we modeled the importance of that time together. Table time has been one of the greatest blessings in our lives, and I still love having people gathered around a ...