Nancy Stordahl

When a person is grieving or has been handed a cancer diagnosis or is going through any sort of life-altering, difficult experience, they probably aren’t looking for a Fixer. In her book, she addresses this topic of Fixers and platitudes, too, saying: These are the three life lessons people try to teach me that, frankly, feel worse than cancer itself. Pushing back, is THE basic premise behind my memoir, Cancer Was Not a Gift & It Didn’t Make Me a Better Person. If you want to read more articles like this one, Share about an encounter you’ve had with a Fixer, Minimizer, Teacher or Solutions Giver.

I stopped saying, I lost my mother to mbc and started saying, my mother died from mbc. Now, I’m certainly not saying there’s anything wrong with saying, I’m sorry for your loss. What if we started having honest conversations with terminal patients and their families about the process of dying, and what if we did it a whole lot earlier in the dying process? Maybe if we all started speaking more openly about death and starting using the “D” words with less hesitation, it would make at least some parts of the dying process a little easier for everyone, especially for the person dying.

Having alone time with either of my boys is a rarity, and I’m acutely aware I spent more alone time with my eldest before our second and last child came along. Hanging with the boys (the aforementioned nearly four year old and my newly turned six year old), making sure their needs are met and enjoying, most of the time, the quality time with them while they still want me around. Now, rather than going to the doctor once a year (maybe), I have an entire team of doctors spanning many specialties, and I’m in a doctor’s office multiple times a week. This new life is very far from what I experienced before cancer and despite the fact that we live with the dark storm cloud of my truncated life expectancy hovering overhead, there is unexpected joy.

Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs and An Older Dog Is an Extra Special Dog are two posts you might want to read too. I’ve written quite a few times about the beloved pets in my family, and in this post, I want to share six things I love about living with a dear old dog. I hope you’ll share reasons why you love (or once loved) living with an old dog (or cat) too. What do you love (or what did you love) about living with an old dog (or cat)?