2015 in Review: Who Knew?
I swear, the years go by faster the older that I get. It was Christmas only last week, and it seems like Christmas of 2014 wasn’t that much longer before. That was the Christmas that we all found out about my aunt’s cancer, angiosarcoma. She thought that she had rosacea on the end of her nose – and it turned out to be a rare and aggressive sickness that threatened her life. Surgeons had to remove her nose! And then she went through the long, gruesome surgeries to reconstruct a new nose from the skin on her forehead… months of facial deformity… and then the nearly torturous radiation through the summer… It was very good to see her this Christmas. Her new nose is still taking shape, three more surgeries to go, but she is healthy, cancer free, and in her usual good spirits – she’s alive!
To read more about this part of 2015, click on these popular posts:
Joy and gratitude for life extended to my father this Christmas. For this entire year, he has been living and working, lifting me (60 pounds), mowing lawns, washing windows, carrying caskets in his part-time work with a funeral home – all with seven clogged arteries, most of them at 95 and 90 percent blocked! Who knew? He never had a heart attack, only felt tired, and sometimes, not often, short of breath or a little heavy chested. My mother and I were shocked when he called us to tell us that he wasn’t going to need stents or angioplasty – he was going to need open-heart surgery. The fear, anxiety, dread, sorrow, and the anger at myself for relying so heavily on my parents will not soon be forgotten.
To read more about it, check out these posts:
My own health, thankfully, has been very good this year, and I have been busier than I think I’ve ever been. I somehow volunteered to be the webmaster for my parish’s new website and also to launch and administrate a Facebook page for good old Saint Jean’s. Thinking about it, I don’t believe that I am hip and cultured enough, or educated and religious enough, to be in charge of these things. Who’d a thunk it? If you’re curious, you can see what I’ve been up to here:
Unfortunately, my writing has been second to my volunteer work – and I know it shouldn’t be. I don’t believe that God created me to post funny memes, even if they are religiously themed. I am a writer. God wants me to write. Although evangelization is certainly possible through social media, I CANNOT neglect my writing. Yes, Christina, say it – my craft, my gift. Own it, Christina. YOU ARE A WRITER! My other blog and website that have taken a backseat are:
God is good. And there have been moments in the year when I’ve been able to truly reflect upon life, to ponder in my heart, and to write. These are some of the posts of 2015 that have been popular, the kinds of things that I want to write more often in 2016. If you click and read them, please enjoy! And may God bless you with a healthy, happy, and possibly weird and wonderful new year!
Can I Get an Amen? Probably Not from Me
The Essence of the Ascension – Weird and Wonderful
What Is Holy Communion? How I’d like to Break It down to My Little Ones
© 2015 Christina Chase
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Christina Chase View All
Although crippled by disease, I'm fully alive in love. I write about the terrible beauty and sacred wonder of life, while living with physical disability and severe dependency. A revert to the Catholic faith through atheism, I'm not afraid to ask life's big questions. I explore what it means to be fully human through my weekly blog and have written a book: It's Good to Be Here, published by Sophia Institute Press.
Christina Chase 