Let's hear it for my Momma...

Hey all,

For those of you who I asked to read the excerpt from the new novel I am working on... it's the next entry. Otherwise...

I need to bite the bullet and follow-up on my blog about foreboding. As it turns out, maybe I have a little bit of clairvoyance in me, because that nagging feeling turned out to be true.

Most of you know that my mother has been battling cancer for more than five years now. “Battling” is the wrong work—she has been having an on-going, knockdown, drag out street fight with cancer. They take turns beating the hell out of each other. “Cancer” is also not descriptive enough. I firmly believe that it is probably one of the scariest words in the English dictionary, but increasingly (and thankfully) most kinds of cancer are becoming more and more treatable. In my mom’s case, treatment options are limited. The fact that she has done as well as she has for so long is a testament to how tough this lady is.

After a failed stem cell transplant last year, Mom miraculously survived and the chemo used for the transplant caused a temporary remission. We got news a little while ago that the remission has ended, and the cancer is back.

I have all the faith in the world in my mom. She has beaten this down over and over and over again, and if there is a way on this earth to beat it again, Mom is the one to do it. I secretly suspect that she is actually Highlander and will outlive us all.

But we’re all in for a rough fight, and I can’t help but feel that this somehow contributes to this overall exhaustion that I seem to feel all the time. I have combined this with this absolute terror of being alone, because it gives me too much time to think. The travel is exhausting, but also really nice right now because it prevents me from having time to focus on things.

I can’t say it any more simply or honestly than this—I need my mom, guys. My mother is truly one of the best examples of humanity I have ever encountered and one of my best friends. I’ve mentioned my fierce independence before, but it doesn’t apply to my relationship with my mom. I talk to her every day, and any time anything is wrong, mom is the first number I dial.

So, if you’re praying folk, prayers for mom are always appreciated.