This is my third “31 Prayers” book, but it focuses on the past year of my life. Instead of fighting to hold my broken heart together, I’m praying the prayer of Hezekiah, “More time, please Lord.” I was an outrageously healthy person until October, 2020. Then I was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. At first it […]

It was the shock of my life when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer in November. Me, the healthy one. I had a young cousin who was a super athlete that had leukemia and I thought that would be the biggest surprise of my life. Now, at the tender age of 55, I […]

I just received bad news about my cancer. The numbers are going in the wrong direction despite top of the line chemo meds and a team of doctors that are working very hard to keep me alive. Some of you would say that it proves that the hundreds of people who are praying for me […]

I remember that when I was in college there was a famous hearing in which a US Senator was told that the government loved his children. He responded (to the other Senator), “Then what are my children’s names?” She couldn’t answer. That stuck with me, and as a history teacher I have seen many instances […]

I know that I’m not promised tomorrow. This colon cancer diagnosis stinks, but I know there’s a plan to work it for good. I have survived car wrecks that you wouldn’t believe I walked away from without even a broken bone. Most of my sick days were still available at work when this all started. […]

After a rare weeks-long cold snap, the Gulf Coast is back to normal. That means lots of rain and temperatures in the sixties. It means my dogs spend more time outside, and my students start to wiggle like worms on a hook. It means the air will soon be sweet with the smell of flowering […]

Chapter 1- San Juan, Puerto Rico Reverie’s shoes dug into a long, thin ribbon of sand behind the Orion Caribbean Suites, San Juan. The sound of the waves crashing against the breakers and the majestic striations of color that painted her little stretch of beach made it worth the extra work of running through the […]

I am ready to see the end of 2020. It has been a strange year. Teaching online last spring was NO fun, and it made me appreciate my students more. Without that give-and-take in the classroom, not much learning takes place. We have been back in person (middle school) since August and have only a […]