An Update

This morning, I read a prayer that said something like this:

Today I pray to respond to each spill, squabble and conflict with love and patience...

For the record....I failed - miserably.

Parenting is hard. No really, I mean this is the hardest job in the world. Sometimes, somedays I am pushed to my limits. Patience is hard to find.

Obsessive thoughts about Elisa and her family have been consuming me. Her story puts things into perspective. It reminds us of what is important and what we should be grateful for. I am obsessing because of the absurdity of what has happened to Elisa over the last few weeks. It is incomprehensible. And that is the struggle - making sense of the things in life that simply don't make sense. With every struggle I am confronted with in my life, I ask myself - what is the lesson I am being taught? In what way will this experience help me evolve? In some situations these questions are harder to answer.

When I try to put myself into Elisa's shoes I feel especially heavy hearted because both she and her husband are fighting cancer. Since becoming a mother, there have only been a few times that I have been too sick to get out of bed. I have been able to stay in bed - to rest and recover - knowing that Alan can pick up the slack. I rest easy knowing that the children are in the amazing hands of their FATHER. Now I understand now everyone has this luxury.

So many of you have emailed me, called me, texted me about this family. Some of you have taken the matter into your own hands to do something to help.

You want to help and the good news is that you can. Today I received this in an email...

We’ve created an email address: inspireteambond@gmail.com to collect stories of inspiration, well wishes, etc. for both Elisa and Nathan.

If you have 10 minutes to spare, we ask that from time to time you send them both a note, through this email address, to help keep them going and staying strong. If you, your friends, or friends of friends have faced similar challenges, have battled either form of cancer (rectal or breast), have triumphed over cancer, or just have something inspiring to say, please use this address and pass it along to others so that stories of inspiration can be shared with both Nathan and Elisa.