Dear Diane,
I’ve been thinking about you all day. Missing you and grateful you’re at rest. Following your death in 2006, David and I flew to Houston, rented a car, and came to the funeral home for your viewing, the evening before your funeral service. Read the rest of this entry »
After living with ALS for 10 years, my sister Diane died in spring 2006. This week I’ve been reading through some of my Houston journal notes. I kept them when I flew to Houston to visit Diane. As I read, I couldn’t help noticing how often Read the rest of this entry »
Diane, 1954?
And to sisterly conversations. My Number One Unplanned Series. Early last July, I decided to engage Diane in sisterly conversations. Read the rest of this entry »
Your description of life after you got a vent is beyond painful. I wonder what would happen if this letter—this epistle from Diane—were read from the pulpit in church this Sunday? Or any Sunday? Read the rest of this entry »
This is the last piece Diane wrote for her friends about ALS. I’ll respond next Friday. It’s a longer piece, definitely tough reading. Partly because it’s about her; mostly because it’s about us. Read the rest of this entry »
Is there anything ‘normal’ about ALS? If so, I haven’t yet discovered it. That’s ironic, since life itself is fraught with unexpected events, twists and turns. Yet we call it ‘normal.’ Why not ALS, too?
I learned early how to answer the inevitable question of my heart: Why me? Why my family? Read the rest of this entry »
Diane’s opening lines in Part 1 are loaded: “I am dying. Sooner rather than later.” Her entire piece is available here. The following letter is my response to her.
Dear Diane,
Your question and opening lines get right to the point.
I’ve been thinking about our family of origin and your immediate family. From my perspective, they’re light-years apart when it comes to talking in general.
For example, I can’t imagine us as children sitting around the kitchen or dinner table, chomping down food, elbows on the table, Read the rest of this entry »
Houston, March 1999. A small family gathering in memory of Mother’s death in February. Several next-generation cousins are there. We watch a video of the memorial service for Mother. Death is in the air and on my mind. Not simply Mother’s death, but Diane’s and mine. Did Diane’s ALS break Mother’s heart? Read the rest of this entry »
Continued from Part 1. “…I do need to express, however, a part of my experience as a woman in ministry about which I have remained silent.” Read the rest of this entry »
Telling the Truth 