"It doesn't matter what you say about somebody once they're gone. What matters is how you treat them when they're still here." - David Silver, Beverly Hills 90210 On this day in March 2024 I came home from a month-long hospital stay where I had been treated for newly-diagnosed metastatic breast cancer. That month was also the twelve-year anniversary of my original cancer diagnosis. Two weeks later, following a failed attempt at targeted therapy, I was discharged from oncology care and told "I'm sorry but there is nothing more we can do". I was signed over to a team of palliative care doctors and given weeks to two months to live. That was two years ago. I'm sure you, dearest of readers, have guessed the moral of the story: Don't believe everything you are told when it comes to your health. Take it at face value and appreciate that it was based on the best available information at the time. But remember that you are in the driver's sea...
How does YOUR garden grow? Mine grows with Rachel Gill! Rachel was my youngest's preschool photographer. I met her 9 years ago, and after seeing her wonderful photography, decided to hire her for some candids and portraits of all of my kids, then 3, 7 and 9. The result was so much more than a beautiful collection of photos; we created memories of a fun-filled late afternoon jaunt through some fields to get to a barn, as we tried in vain to get Imogen to laugh. Rachel suggested I dance cartwheels behind her as she snapped away and it worked like a charm - the resulting photos are some of the best I've ever seen of my kids, or any kids for that matter! She really is a gifted photographer. I later learned that Rachel's photography business was not her primary talent; she was in fact a gardener by trade, and a very passionate proponent and educator on sustainability and on growing your own food. When she said she was a fellow nature lover I knew I had found a kindred ...