Category Archives: Family

holding it all

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Emily

Life can be extreme.  Our fears can consume us; joy can make us feel like our hearts will burst.  Holding it all, simultaneously, as I was made to do recently, can seem nothing short of defying emotional gravity. There are … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, Family, medicine, running, yoga | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

the other shoe

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Emily

We survivors possess many unique skills.  Chief among them may be our ability to consciously deny our persistent, nagging fear of The Other Shoe Dropping.  It’s essential, if we want to keep on living in any meaningful, joyful way. Most … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, Family, Life After Cancer, medicine | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

burning doubt – lessons from a yoga mala

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Emily

At 5:30 this morning, I offered up all of my doubt to the forces of balance and harmony in the universe.  Then, along with about 10 other women, I performed 108 sun salutations – a yoga mala to mark the … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Life After Cancer, Philadelphia, Work, yoga | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

no time to waste

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Emily

Four years ago, during a heatwave not unlike the one we are now experiencing, I lay confined in the partially air-conditioned recesses of our rented home in Northern Liberties, hanging on to the edges of the life with which four … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, Family, Life After Cancer, Philadelphia, Work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

a cat, and cancer’s complicating curse

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Emily

Last week, we put our first pet to sleep.  Gracie the orange tabby was with us for over ten years – through 9/11, our wedding, the arrival of Lucy the basset hound, cancer…the list goes on.  For a few weeks … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Family | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

ready for anything

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Emily

If there’s one thing cancer teaches us, it’s to be flexible, and ready to adapt to any and all circumstances.  Try as we might to control our surroundings, to plan for an ever-elusive future, there’s simply no way we can … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Family, Life After Cancer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

ghost child

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Emily

This evening as I was leaving work, one of my colleagues, who was my office-mate when my nephew was born six years ago, asked me how he was doing.  Actually, her exact words were, “How’s my man doing?,” and I … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, Family, Film, Infertility, Life After Cancer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

three years on: haunted, miraculous

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Emily

When I last wrote, I’d just gotten a hard slap from cancer at the precise moment it seemed I was at long last beginning to put some distance between my life as defined by cancer and the life that I … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, Family, fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

leap of faith

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Emily

Thursday night, Mike and I attended a workshop on the effects of substance abuse during pregnancy.  Our agency, Open Arms, does a fabulous job of making the adoption process all about “lifelong learning,” and one of the areas they want … Continue reading →

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atonement

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Emily

Thirteen years into my partnership/marriage with Mike, and there’s still an inescapable awkwardness that creeps in each year around the High Holidays.  While I recognize the significance of this period on the calendar from a theoretical standpoint, some of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Life After Cancer, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments