Eventually you become an echo of the girl you were before, and something new. Something stronger. You become a girl who can hold grief in one hand, and life’s enormous joy in the other, and smile.
Uncategorised
I wish your life were my life by Zoe Rehbein
Zoe uttering out loud what every parent of a child with cancer has thought as they watch the well children of their friends play so effortlessly. I wish YOUR child’s health were MY child’s health. Not jealously, not maliciously, but deeply wishing the wellness of other children for her own daughter. Zoe and Emme held hands and walked back into the trenches of childhood cancer treatment for the second time. Six months in, this is her story.
There, but for the grace of God, go I
After a mighty battle, Ava is at rest from Brain Cancer. For her, and in some ways, selfishly, for ourselves, we all fall to our knees in our grief
Our Daughter’s Body Shame Legacy
When my daughter Lara was about 3 years old, I saw her meanly grab at her belly, and shake it a little, with mock disgust. Shame flooded me. I thought I had been SO careful protecting my daughter from my own body hate but I was looking at an action I did most mornings between getting out of the shower and getting dressed.
Childhood Cancer Changed Me
Childhood cancer demands so much more than a pound of flesh. He not only demands the brutalities of treatment, impacts of survivorship on the child, the unthinkable loss of some children, he also demands so much of every person who loves that child. If you have only recently heard the words ‘your child has cancer’, I am sorry in advance for what you are about to embark on
An open letter to the supporters
An open letter to my dear friend, Leah To be loved deeply by you, and without condition when you are in the middle of white hot pain is a gift so meaningful it is hard to describe. It is a rare and immeasurable comfort. I wanted to say that I know there’s a cost to...
Back into the trenches
Like a soldier, finally home from the war, only to hear the sirens of battle again. The prospect of going back into the trenches of childhood cancer strikes a paralysing fear into the hearts of every parent who has faced the beast with their child.
Maybe swearing will help
Swearing can be the most powerful utterance we can make. Fuck you! Fuck NO! Fuck yeah! Fucking hell yes! Fuck my Life. Fancy as Fuck. So often we can't change our circumstances. The only way we have to accept our circumstances, when they're shitty, is how we cope with...
Women who are opting out
A few clever women I know. Women at the top of their game. Women who seemingly have it all, are opting out. Opting out of relentlessly burning their candles at both ends. And they are making decisions. “You really can have everything… just not at the same time” isn’t...
The Beginnings of Bravery Box
Pop over to the link to listen to the interview of Tanya and Shane Richards about the beginnings of Bravery Box and Cancer's utter lack of manners. https://www.abc.net.au/radio/brisbane/programs/mornings/bravery-box-nurse-shane-and-tanya-allan/13122910
