Patient Siggy

This morning, Dori and I watched "A Word on Words," a show on local public television about the insight of local authors. Host John Seigenthaler interviewed Sigourney Cheek, who has penned Patient Siggy: Hope and Healing in Cyberspace. Dori has begun reading this book, and I'll be starting the first page shortly after she finishes the last one.

We were riveted by the intensely personal account from Mrs. Cheek, who battled lymphoma and Richter's Transformation into remission (she said today on the show she's had a recurrence). I was personally struck when Cheek said she feels closest to God when she's writing (for me, it's when I'm writing and running, even more than when I'm praying). She also discussed the power of community in her battle. The trigger to this power, she said, is allowing yourself to be vulnerable in order to share insight on taboo subjects like death and prayer. In a sense, that's what CaringBridge and this blog have been for us. We have been linked, like Mrs. Cheek and her wonderful community, via cyberspace to old friends who have become better friends and new friends who have become good ones.

We totally "got" where Patient Siggy was coming from. Cheek mentions Dr. Greer in her book, so you could say Dori is more than locked in on her new compatriot's vivid experience. The podcast of Mrs. Cheek's interview should soon be available here under 02/24/08.

Last night, Kathryn and I went to a Texas-themed father-daughter dance at her wonderful school. We had a blast, dancing to the Cha-Cha Slide and other songs and pounding a root beer float. We then came home to watch the end of the Memphis-UT game. Pepper and Kathryn feel asleep peacefully on a blanket under my feet ... I didn't want to wake them, but I needed to get the girl to bed. One thing that I enjoyed last night at the dance was positive feedback from a father about my blog; he said it's "inspirational." After I thanked him, I said we're just so thankful that "Dori is still here with all of us," to which his eyes widened. Dori, through whom God is working, is the real inspiration.

Church almost always is meaningful to me, if not often inspirational. Today, I found meaning in one passage about patience through hardship, connecting to an experience a family member is going through. In another, I was struck by how important forgiveness is. Earlier this week, someone I know latched on to anger and bitterness rather than the positive power of healing that forgiveness can bring. That was at the top of my prayer list this week.

I feel good after yesterday's run, so much so that an attempt at the PWP 5.8-mile loop is in the cards. Last week is over; this week is here.