The Lily Letters

It's that magical time of the year again!  Here in Alabama we just had our first night below 70 degrees since who knows how long, and let me just tell you.... it was ah-mazing!  A breath of fresh air!  A relief, after our long and oppressive summer heat.   I'm told it will not last long, that we will be back up over 90 in the next few days.  But, man.  It was great while it lasted, and I can't wait for the days coming up.  The ones where each morning greets you with a cold, swift peck on the check.  I'll try to be patient.  I woke up on Saturday morning with my sweet baby girl, brewed some coffee (out of necessity more than anything else), and went on a walk with our dog, Oliver.  There was a light breeze, Cora and I were both clad in long sleeves and pants, and we just strolled around for a bit taking it all in.  This is the good stuff.  This must be what the Lord intended when he said, "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink a

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month- a month when SAO sisters everywhere paint their nails, wear teal shirts, and bake teal cupcakes.  This year our theme is The Real Teal.  I (Meghan) chose this theme because to me, cancer is real .  And not real pretty colors or real yummy desserts. But real pain, real  fear, real loss. Back in 2012, my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor that turned out to be a glioblastoma,  a very aggressive brain cancer.  It had a 25% five year survival rate, and a rapidly decreasing percentage after those 5 years.  On my trips home from college on weekends, I saw my strong, beautiful mother rapidly decline due to the chemo and radiation treatments. I saw her lose the ability to walk on her own, eat on her own, and eventually even sit up on her own.  I sat by her even when she was forgetting who I was, who my dad was.  I listened as she became frustrated being unable to speak a coherent sentence. At the end of February, three short months after bein