In our family, my husband Mark is the caregiver for me. It wasn’t always that way.

For the first 25 years, we were equal partners. We raised two sons, bal­anc­ing demands of careers and the challenges of parenting. Our lives were not easy, but wonderful and rich. Our children grew up, and we found more time for our personal passions; athletics for me and rock hunting for him.

Six and half years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. …

“Is there anyone alive out there?”

The call from the darkened stage is met with a cheer from the crowd.

The call is repeated with greater passion, “Is there anyone really alive out there?”

A thunderous roar erupts, the stage lights rise, and Bruce Springsteen lifts a hand to greet the assembled masses.

While Bruce’s customary concert rallying cry energizes his fans, it is also a promise to be fulfilled that night. A Springsteen concert is part rock show, part …

It was a usual Sunday. We were in the early service, and I can tell you that I needed more than a bit of caffeine, when all of a sudden the minister asked, “Are you the same person that you were five years ago?”

“Wow,” I thought, “I’m not sure,” as I became lost in the recesses of my mind.

You might think that the answer to question is a simple one. You’ve had the same blood type since …

Santa left some small, cheap jigsaw puzzles in our stockings. They are flimsy and garishly colored. Last week, we cleared off a coffee table, cut one box open, and spread out the pieces.

Jigsaw puzzles can be huge time sinks, as much as any electronic en­ter­tain­ment. This particular puzzle is of a carousel horse, its colors tinted towards the Fauvism spectrum. It has 660 pieces, over 600 of which look identical to the casual eye. No wonder an hour can …

I guess that my being diagnosed with multiple myeloma was bound to bring many un­expected things along with it. In the 19 months since my diagnosis, many things have happened to me, and to my husband Graham, that we certainly did not expect. Of course, most of them have been medically related.

Alongside all these medical challenges, other un­expected experiences have come our way.

Sometimes, when I take time to reflect, I can see that some of these un­expected …

It has been a bitter cold winter here since December. Tem­per­a­tures of -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) have occurred on many days. I have been trudging up a steep hill to the cancer center, though, bundled up in a long down-filled coat, tall boots, down mitts, a scarf, and a knitted hat!

I also am still doing my regular walks, both to see the beauty of nature, and to stay fit while going through the 20 radia­tion treat­ments …

At the end of October, I traveled to Tucson, Arizona to visit my ailing 76-year-old father. The trip had significant lessons for both patients and caregivers. Since I am both, it had a profound impact on me that I am still trying to organize in my mind.

Dad has both terminal cancer and very late-stage multiple sclerosis, a disease he has battled since he was 25 years old. Due to his cancer diag­nosis in August of 2015, he was not …