January, 18th 2025: Join us for food, drinks, dancing, and author sharing — all to support our mission. Learn more here!
caregiver
Make-A-Wish Side Effect
I was looking at the picture of my 19-year-old Max, standing on the sparkling white top of Lone Peak, in a black ski patrol coat, with a neon orange avalanche pillow inflated behind his back.
Read More...Lessons and Love from a CEO
My name is Ashlee. Even though I have three kids, these days I am known mostly as “Michael’s mom”. Or just “Mom”. There are some people who call me “CEO”. Oh, not that kind. CEO meaning “Caregiver Extra Ordinaire”.
Read More...The Human Being, Not the Human Doing: Lessons from the Infusion Center
My experience has taught me that as humans, it’s much easier to ‘do’ than it is to ‘be’, especially when your loved one is undergoing cancer treatment.
Read More...The Gold Lantern
It was the night of my twenty-ninth birthday when we got the call from the hospital. It was the call we all knew was coming. After nine years of fighting multiple myeloma, my father passed away—nine years that were shaped by fear, emotional pain, and uncertainty, but also by hope.
Read More...Learning to Breathe Again
I have a problem. I don’t remember the final moments of my life before I became a caregiver. Most importantly, I don’t remember much about a day that changed my life. A day that changed my family’s life.
Read More...Dear Cancer, I am Making Ashlynne Proud
I always wondered what I would say to you, if given the chance. I had it all planned out in my head, the hatred I had for you, the anger. I have sat down to write just to delete it, and write it again.
Read More...Everywhere and Always
Dear Cancer, As far as I know I’m not supposed to be stopped in the grocery store in front of all the bread, frozen in my body by a sudden wave of dread and images of sickness. I’m not supposed to be listing chemo drugs in my head as I drive or zoning out of a conversation with my neighbor wondering whether they are scared of death too.
Read More...Beyond Reason
When my 3-year-old daughter, Cecilia, was diagnosed with childhood leukemia, we were wrecked—shattered, overwhelmed, and drowning in a reality we never saw coming.
Read More...The New Normal of Moving Forward
As I sat on my couch during a surprisingly warm April afternoon, I awaited the news my family had been dreading for weeks. I sat there watching YouTube videos on my phone while my thoughts wandered aimlessly. What if she did have it?
Read More...The Now
In 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 33. I had surgery and treatment in Boston and then moved home to Hudson Valley, New York to live close to my family. I met the love of my life shortly thereafter. After about two and a half years together, in October 2023, he was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer.
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