I didn’t know Stuart Scott. Scott, a sports anchor for ESPN for a number of years, passed yesterday after a long battle with cancer. No, I didn’t know Scott. It felt like it sometimes, seeing him on Sportscenter with his very personable style. Sometimes it felt like I did. I might not have known Scott,…
Tag: cancer
Cancer – the monster that never sleeps
People have asked over the years what it was like to live with someone who has cancer. I’m never quite sure what to tell them, but I try to be as honest as I can, while also extending as much hope as I can. But one thing I don’t think people realize about living with…
Going to the hospital, Part 2
If you follow my blog, you’ve read several stories about the illness and death of my wife, Tracie. But there’s one story you don’t know – because I’ve never told anyone about it before. Until now. Many of you have read before that shortly before she passed away in the fall of 2004, we spent…
To a stranger, thank you
The year my wife was sick was full of ups and downs. Hope and despair. And time never seemed to go at a normal pace. There were days and events that were just a blur. Yet there were some moments that seemed to last an eternity. While there are many things I don’t remember about…
My wife displays grace, while I try to comprehend
It’s an afternoon I’ll never forget . . . because it’s still so hard to believe. It was a sunny, fall afternoon in either September or early October. I can’t remember now which it was. But the details are still as fresh as yesterday. I was sitting at the dining room table with my wife,…
The worst Saturday of my life
It’s difficult to watch anyone suffer, but it’s even more so when you have to watch a loved one suffer and there’s nothing you can do. You feel helpless. If only you could do something, anything, to help. And then sometimes, you can, if only a little . . . It was a Saturday in…
More than filling a vacancy
I once made a terrible mistake. Yeah, yeah. I know. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the course of my life. But this one . . . it was the worst. If you’ve never read my blog, let me give you a little background. My wife and I had our son in October of 2003.…
What my wife knew, but I refused to believe
“I’ve had a good life,” said my wife with a bittersweet tone to her voice. I was driving us back from Houston, and I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. NO! That’s NOT how it was going to be. “You’re going to be fine,” I said, not knowing that my wife had less than…
Where was God?
It’s been a little over nine years now since my wife died of cancer. I can’t remember the exact date she was diagnosed, but I can remember the day I realized God would be with us throughout our ordeal. We had been waiting several weeks to hear word that M.D. Anderson in Houston would accept us.…
The hardest thing I ever had to tell my daughter
I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful, sunny October day. It was one of those rare days in Arkansas where you can actually be comfortable outside. But it wasn’t comfortable at my house. My wife had returned from the hospital only a few days before, and we now had the…
Holding together the jello 