Finding the Words

September 21, 2021 | Danielle | Family | 0

The past few months have been some of the hardest of my life, which is saying a lot since I’ve faced colon cancer twice. My health’s been great, and my family’s still in-tact. But we’ve faced a lot of other stuff, hard stuff, and I’ve got very few words to show for it.  This blog […]

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Heather with the Feather – A Tribute

December 29, 2019 | Danielle | Cancer Survivorship | 4

“I was the primary caregiver for my daddy who passed away from colon cancer in 2013. Two years later, at 34 years old, I was diagnosed. Stage IV colon cancer. No symptoms. No genetic marker. In place of shock was heartbreak; that my husband would bear the burden of primary caregiver. In place of the […]

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Hey Cancer, FU! – A Tribute to John MacLeod

April 23, 2019 | Danielle | Cancer Survivorship | 1

He was a bull in a china shop, and I mean that in the most loving way. If John could read this description about himself, I imagine he’d say, “Damn straight.” I first encountered this man in a bright, white hallway. He was, let’s just say, talking like a passionate, confident sales guy on the […]

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A tribute to Ms. Linda – Birth Grandma in our open adoption

November 13, 2018 | Danielle | Adoption | 2

I didn’t expect my adoption post this month to be centered around the news of a funeral. But as I’ve processed the passing of my daughter’s birth grandma last week, there’s no better way to advocate for adoption right now. We met Ms. Linda shortly after we adopted Mae. She helped care for the child […]

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To Life! – A Tribute to Dr. Tom

November 15, 2017 | Danielle | Cancer Survivorship | 5

Scroll down past the big trees – he told us on his personal blog – and there you’ll find me. In a picture from one of his hiking trips, surrounded by beautiful tall trunks of some of the world’s tallest trees, there Tom Marsilje didn’t only find himself but introduced himself. Humble. Happy. Hopeful he […]

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A Week of Grief

March 23, 2017 | Danielle | Family | 0

Losing Grandma I gently patted around the blankets looking for her frail hand to hold, but it was too buried. So, I settled for combing my fingers through her thinning gray hair. Under normal circumstances, she’d hate it that so many saw her without freshly styled curls. But this week, there was no beauty shop […]

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Because She Was Rose

December 18, 2016 | Danielle | Cancer Survivorship | 21

I stood off to the side, a common place for me, and watched her arms raise and hips gently sway. The sparkles on her low-cut, v-neck, blue sequence dress flashed in the lights. Her tall silver heels and spiky hair, not to mention her signature blue eye shadow, led me to believe she felt good. […]

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