Reading The Inner Cure by Sheila and Tom Baker made a huge impact on me (and it still does). However, the thoughts, prayers, and poems in their little book can be for just about anyone going through a hard time, not just kids. Today, I thought I’d share another thought from their book during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Be Yourself Wake up today and be yourself, No matter where you go, For people always try to tell you what, Your goals and life should sow. They tell you

Volunteerism is the practice of freely giving your time, energy, and skills to help others or support a worthy cause without expecting financial payment. It is the silent engine that keeps many nonprofits going and doing their thing. My entire family has taken on many volunteer projects over the years, mostly helping organizations focused on childhood cancer. For us, it is that Post-Traumatic Growth and Gains. The term PTG was coined by Dr. Richard T. Tedeschi, Ph.D., a profe

Almost ten years ago, Tom (RIP) and Sheila Baker, Founders of Special Love, wrote a book together called The Inner Cure. It’s a short but powerful little book to help children and teens fight cancer. It will also help families understand what they are going through or about to go through, and join in the fight. According to Tom and Sheila, we know patients must deal with medication, radiation, and chemotherapy. All of this is part of the OUTER CURE. But you can never be total

The less than a minute video below is what I was able to grab from Katie Holloran, the busiest volunteer on Landon’s School campus for this past weekend’s Kids Triathlon in Bethesda, Maryland. This was her sixth year at the helm. It’s a hard job with all the logistics and finding volunteers (a hundred or more) to make the kid racers, ages 5-14, safe and happy. All money raised for this outstanding foundation goes to help kids with cancer and their families in need. The larges

I don’t think it is a stretch to share how much Seth Godin and Kristin Hatcher made an impact on me when I signed up for the very first Writing in Community on June 8, 2020. Covid raging. Lockdown. I had started a book in 2016/2017 I thought I could finish with this new worldwide cohort of writers and lots of hours to sit at my dining room table and write. All of it changed my life! Covid/Smovid. Maybe some people complained about being stuck in the house. For us, we wrote al

The JustTryanIt Kids Triathlon was held today at the beautiful Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. We had some liquid sunshine that really never dampened the enthusiasm of the athletes and spectators there to do good It was the 17th year hosted by the school to accommodate 350 triathlon athletes from aged 5-15 from all over the D. C. Metropolitan region. My whole family has been involved in volunteering at the great event since the beginning. This may have been my fifth yea

After yesterday's sobering post, I needed something easier to digest. A good friend of mine sent me the image below. It does not have any identifying attribution, and I looked online, but I could not find the original source. Continuing on: Everyone has a story. Good/Bad/Indifferent. The Empathy Matters image explains it all so perfectly. It's really a visual tool used to align teams, educators, or individuals with the true, objective reality of another person's experience. I

Over the years, on many Fridays, I've written a sort of column on #CelebratingOthers here on this blog, and on my older blog for 10 years under QuiltsFromTheHeart. It always amazed me how wonderful, amazing, and diverse we as humans really are around the globe. Can you guess what my thoughts are after highlighting someone? It's the fact that people are good! We virtually all want the same things. The whole project has been one of the greatest blessings in my writing life. Tod

How Can I Help? 💛🎗️ It’s a question people often ask me/us when we were in crisis mode; others in the same boat as me got the same question too: “What can I do?” After years of childhood cancer treatments with Ryan, I included a list of “Helpful Hints” in The Focused Fight. I didn't find these ideas on the internet. They came from living it and figuring out what worked best when that question came up. My hope is that, with a few simple hints, readers here can help others, t

Over the past five years in September, and sixteen days into this one, I’ve posted something every day for Childhood Cancer Awareness 2026. Maybe that feels relentless. It’s supposed to. Because childhood cancer is relentless. The protocols are long and arduous, and there may be other kids in the picture to take care of, too; AKA other children/siblings. When a child is in treatment, cancer doesn’t take a day off. There are no weekends away from the worry. No vacation from bl