A Thanksgiving Blessing!

We're Home!  And Happily Exhausted from our trip across Europe...  Just in time for Thanksgiving feasting!

And plenty of rowdy family fun... Poppy was surrounded by the happiest of grandkids and great-grands.

That was Thanksgiving Blessing.

Gratitude in Abundance for the love shared around this big family table!

And the trip?  That amazing retirement celebration trip??  It was everything we could have imagined... and yes!  There are pictures!  ;-)

We started in Paris, France and after exploring this beautiful city, we headed to the beaches of Normandy...

Such a poignant journey,

remembering each one who fought for our freedoms.

 that June day...

The moments spent here will forever be etched in our hearts.

Then we traveled through beautiful Luxembourg on our way to the Viking Hild, our home away from home!

Gorgeous scenery as we sailed down the Moselle and Rhine Rivers...

Touring old castles...

And visiting charming old villages!

Oh, and did I mention the Cathedrals??

The architecture, the ancient breath of whispered prayers,

 the Holiness of these places...

Then there were the quaint town squares and charming sidewalk cafes!

Which led to pastries and chocolate! 

I may have slipped into a chocolate coma once or twice, just sayin'

Melt in your mouth delicious!

Our journey ended in Switzerland, where we hiked the Swiss Alps... truly a highlight of our trip!

We hiked to the base of the Eiger North face and searched for the Eiger glacier through the fog bank... it seemed hopeless...

But then in the blink of an eye, the fog lifted and we stared speechless at the beauty before us.

This trip was filled with joy.

What a marvelous way to kick off the next chapter in our lives!

Retirement, here we come!

First job... Laundry! Lol!

Love to each,

Always,

       Jane

You have been my Story of Love

Congratulations on finishing this 31 Days Series...

The stories we've shared... the impossible, demanding, extra-ordinary, amazing, beautiful stories of our lives.  And how cancer can and does change how we live out our story...

I know that in our story, pancreatic cancer interrupted our nice, normal lives with a vengeance.  Yet, it also allowed Grace to show us a more excellent way to Love each other and live life well.

Cancer can and does shape our journey.  But it does not define it.

Finding Grace in this Shadow Valley is the promise... and the Grace-Giver never fails to meet us there.

And finally... drum roll please...

Congratulations to this Man, Farmer Husband...

He is Retired!!!

We leave tonight for a long-overdue trip together... Celebrating Huge milestones and Amazing accomplishments!

We'll be back in 2 weeks... and we just might have a picture (or two) to share!!

Love you Always and Forever!
                                               Jane

Mom's Story... and a Humble Bit of News!

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

Redeeming the Pain...

There's a bit of irony in writing tiny little blog posts in an obscure corner of the web... I'd like to think I was writing for you, for the other cancer warriors in the battle... but it turns out that mostly I'm finding my way back to Hope.

The writing has been a balm to this sore heart... losing mom was a singular event that has colored all my thoughts since then.  The writing, well, it has helped unravel what has tangled my soul.

And this 31 Days series?  This one on Stories of Love?  It has fleshed out one of my biggest issues.

In post after post, these anecdotal ramblings, the central theme of Fear has leapt off the page...

Over and Over... Here and Here...

Fear can keep you hobbled.  Afraid to move.  Or even breathe...

And this pancreatic cancer journey, it has been laced with Fear, from the very first moment we heard the diagnosis.  Walking out the hard grace with mom was a daily exercise in giving that Fear to God and trusting that His Grace would see us through.

It didn't change the suffering, or the pain, or even the path.

The cancer didn't miraculously disappear.  The unknown gnawed at us constantly.  The questions multiplied often leaving us with more dread than hope.

Fear.  It was a persistent companion.

It brought about a unique kind of pain and heartache.  Hard to enjoy the fleeting moments when fear has you in a death grip...

Maybe that's why the rambling writings have helped.  It has been an outlet of sorts for the pain, the hurt, the suffering... and in sharing it has brought countless blessings in the shape of friends and fellow cancer sojourners... the ones who understand what we're going through... the fellow sufferers who get the heart of it when the words are clumsy...

So, I guess it could be said that you all have been a huge part of this girl finding her way out of Fear to a place of Blessed Hope and Joy again.

Maybe there is still much to be reckoned with, I am forever a mess, but one thing that I believe with all my heart is how God can use all of our suffering for His Glory.. in this instance, by helping us connect with others that we would've never met otherwise.

This is a beautiful part of our Story, yours and mine, for we never travel alone.  God's gracious gift of His Presence in and through His people.  You, my friends are Blessing sweet...

Warrioring on in Hope,
Always,
      Jane

Sunday Inspired... Grace

A Bride's Story of Love...

This is one of the most beautiful of Love Stories... But it doesn't seem like it at first.

You, see... Her father died of pancreatic cancer.

Before he could walk her down the aisle.

This bride is given an incredible gift from her brother, as the men in her family step up to bridge the gap and be love in action.

So moving... so utterly heartbreaking... so absolutely uplifting... (you may need to grab a hankie before you hit play, just saying...)

First up is her grandfather, then her brothers and finally her new father-in-law.

Such tenderness and love shown to this hurting bride...at a moment her father's loss was especially keen.

May we be reminded always that the vulnerable ache of the grieving can be softened by our words, our actions, our presence.

We are His hands and feet.  We can be the shoulder for the weeping, the hug for the hurting, the ear for the wounded. 

We can be the Dance.

Waging Hope Together

If you've been hanging around here for very long, you'll know that we are Big Supporters of  The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  There are many great organizations out there... we have just been drawn to PanCan's mission statement over and over again.

They are passionate and dedicated about fighting this monstrous cancer and hit it on all fronts...

- Research
- Clinical Initiatives
- Patient Services
- Advocacy

Their ambitious goal is to double pancreatic cancer survival rates by the year 2020... Funds will be used to:

- develop early detection tools and better treatment options
- push for more federal funding for pancreatic cancer research
- increase funding for patient services, such as the Know Your Tumor program and options to join clinical trials targeted to match patients needs.
- focus attention on pancreatic cancer and help patients and their families Wage Hope and rewrite the future of pancreatic cancer survival.

And PanCan fund raises with a ferocious urgency to push forward the research that will take us to that cure.

The cure is so close!

Each year the PanCan Research Fund awards grants to scientists in an effort to advance the field and pursue breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer treatment.

This year's Grant Recipients for the PanCan Research Fund are:

Please join us in welcoming this year’s new grantees and sharing this announcement:

2018 Skip Viragh Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Catalyst Grant
Andrew Aguirre, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Functional Genetic Discovery of Novel Targets in Pancreatic Cancer

2018 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
Darren Carpizo, MD, PhD, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Co-PI: Patrick Mehlen, PhD, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
Investigating Netrin-1 as a New Therapeutic Target in Pancreatic Cancer

2018 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Catalyst Grant
Iok In Christine Chio, PhD
Columbia University Medical Center
Targeting Redox Status and mRNA translation in Pancreatic Cancer

2018 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
Michael Curran, PhD
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Pro-Inflammatory Conversion of the PDAC Microenvironment

2018 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
Sharon Gorski, PhD, British Columbia Cancer Agency Branch (BC Cancer)
Co-PI: Robert Young, PhD, MC, FRSC, Simon Fraser University
ATG4 Family Members as Therapeutic Targets for Pancreatic Cancer

2018 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
Scott Lowe, PhD
Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research
Targeting p53 Mutations in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

2018 Skip Viragh Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Career Development Award
Karen Mann, PhD
Moffitt Cancer Center
RBFOX2-Mediated Alternative Splicing in Pancreatic Cancer Metastasis

2018 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
George Miller, MD
Co-PI: Shohei Koide, PhD
Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone
Central Role of TIM4 in Driving Immune Tolerance in Pancreatic Carcinoma

2018 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Translational Research Grant
Kenneth Shroyer, MD, PhD
Stony Brook University
Keratin 17 Is a Novel Actionable Target in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Promoting the next level of treatments... Pushing towards the cure, a bit closer every day!

We call this SUCCESS of the best kind.  Thank you PanCan for all you do on our behalf.

And that is Good News for today,

Always,
        Jane