Mom's story is and always will be the heartbeat of
the Pancreatic Cancer Journey.
It is our Story of Love.
For seven years we have shared that story... of the hard graces that have been so much a part of the journey. Because of cancer.
And yet, there are parts of the story that are tucked away, like precious jewels.
Mom's letters to us... our journal entries... cherished moments... sacred space kind of treasures...
We've gathered these together. A Story of Love born out of the fires of a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. This is our story...
Finding Grace in the Shadow Valley
Our story, mom's story, will be out in December. It has been the sweetest, hardest labor of love... Facing the Fears of re-living those days and months bloodied on the cancer battlefield.
In the way of coping with a grief so monumental, we have held on to the smiles, the laughter, the beautiful memories that bring solace.
And we've shuttered the nightmare fragments of the journey, sequestering the pain and the hurt into a box we try never to open.
Of course, it doesn't always work... a scent, her fragrance,
folding her favorite sheets, finding a hidden gift months after her passing,
the diamond on my finger, all are triggers that bring a flood... emotions that still can swamp. We miss her so much...
The journals from those hard, hard days have been gathering dust these past years... we could never let them go, but it has been, oh so painful to open the curling pages and read the words that poured from our broken hearts.
Yes, Cancer has shaped our journey.
But...it has not defined it.
For on those same journal pages we have encountered the deep, abiding joys, the stories brimming with laughter, and the overwhelming promise of a life lived so well. Mom's fingerprints cover each word and point to the riches of God's favor even in the darkest of valleys...
Finding Grace... it is what has made facing our fears possible.
And it brings Hope to the Shadow Valley every. single. time.
Always.
My Love,
Jane
