All Kidding Aside - Speaking of Kids...

As any of you dear readers who are parents know, the hardest part of getting through challenges like the one I'm facing now is helping your children get through them. The only thing harder would be, G-d forbid, if it were your child who had the disease. Some of you have faced that, and my heart goes out to you. When the parent is sick, you want to protect your kids from fearing the worst, while not pretending that they don't know something's wrong. And once you figure out how to talk with them, you worry somebody else will say something that unravels the message you've so carefully crafted for them. With a lot of help from many people, especially you B.L., we developed a strategy that we think works for us.

Our kids know I have colon cancer again and that it has spread to my pelvis. They don't know exactly how serious it is, but they all understand it's not good news. They've each asked if I'm going to die. We've told them that while everyone dies some day, I'm planning to fight as hard as I possibly can to make sure that I don't die for a very long time. So no long faces if you see them, OK? They read right through people, and we want them to hear and believe that message, just as Marcie and I do.

Everyone thinks their own kids are amazing, and you can take comfort in the fact that some of you are right. I happen to know my kids are incredible. It's not just that they are bright, articulate, good looking, tall, smooth-skinned, and germ-resistant, or even that their poop is great-smelling. What amazes me is how absolutely normal they have been after 6 months of world-rocking news about their parents. Don't get me wrong, they've each had their moments. But after seeing their mom seriously injured and hearing their dad is dealing with cancer again, they've been more like themselves than I could ever have imagined, or prayed for. I hope they will always be comfortable talking with us about how they feel and that they will always know it's OK to be scared, sad, mad, or just confused about what life is sending their way. Marcie and I plan to be there to remind them about that until they each turn 65, After that, we're still planning to be around, but it's up to them to remember that lesson.