I'm still here

Hello everyone. I apologize for the lack of posts over the last week. I've spent this week sitting with my Mom in the hospital as her cancer is winning the battle.

Every day I have to remember the advice I've given readers in my books and on this blog. Take the emotion out of your decision-making I've told you time and again. That's certainly not easy, is it? As have many of you, I've had to learn how to be strong and positive for someone else and to save my tears and frustration for private moments.

I'm from a large group of siblings and we all have strong personalities. Of course we each have our share of past squabbles with each other, just like every family. We agreed as a group not to let any silliness from the past interfere with our focus on the present. Mentally I'm thanking them a hundred times over for that, because right now it's our Mom that matters.

We're all in shock, as only three months ago the doctors thought she was cancer-free. We are learning to co-operate in finding essential information and keeping each other up to date. We're letting each other vent and ask questions and cry.

What a stressful, horrible time this is for everyone in my family. Whenever one of them annoys or upsets me, I try to do what I ask my readers to do, which is to remember that the other person is grieving too.

Thanks for your patience. I'll be home briefly in a couple of days and will catch up on blogging then. As always, thanks for reading.