Thank you Aunt Nicole

Well since I've been dealing with my breast cancer my sister-in-law has made us dinner 3 times! Everything she has made and brought over we ate all it! Lucas who is super fussy even ate..........now that's impressive.

This last time she made up spaghetti and meatballs with her home made sauce. The salad was great as well :) We are very lucky to have such great family to help us out. Nicole and my brother have done a lot with helping us out.

It's very hard to get a picture of Nicole without a couple of kids hanging around. My brother and Nicole have 4 great kids with one on the way- and yeah she runs over to my house with food and one time she even made the whole meal in my tiny kitchen!

Here is Nicole with Joey and baby Sam. Those 2 our my godsons and I love them. This picture was taken on Joey's First Holy Communion.

It's so great that my brother and Nicole have decided to raise their children Catholic. Religion has been such a big part of my life and I can't imagine Lucas going through life with out his faith in God. All children need to have faith in God; He can be there for them when we can't. My brother's children are always loud, laughing and cracking jokes.

Here's Joey in his white suite

What a nice Catholic big brother!



Ok- He's still a silly boy

Through my whole cancer experience I met some wonderful people who prayed for me and I know made a difference in my cancer journey. They were not Catholics- they were from other churches and they were so wonderful to take me in and pray for me. I know I speak a lot of being Catholic and that is because I was raised Catholic and I feel God that way. But I have a tremendous amount of respect and love for other religions. I hope to celebrate with some of my new friends one day at their church. I will never forget what they did for me.

I am happy my Joey is on his way to being a religious monster ;)

Joe and Nicole - YOU DID GOOD!

Lent Begins

I wanted to do something special for Lent and this year and I had a hard time deciding. I would usually give up something I really enjoy like diet soda or chocolate, but this year it's different for me.

So I was at a loss and then something mysteriously came to me. Yesterday I was at my old house with Rob going through things to pack up and bring home. I ended up bringing home a couple of boxes and I came across a prayer card.

It was similar to this card-

Going through chemo during Lent is a blessing because no matter how hard things seem I can think of Jesus carrying the cross for me and my problems seem very small. It also reminds me that he carried that cross for all my sins so that I could be saved.

So during Lent
I will say my Rosary every night and meditate on the correct mysteries.
I will say Grace before every meal.
I will say the Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus every night.
I will wear the medal during lent to remind me of Jesus carrying the cross.
I will also follow along in the Lenten book given out at church.

Here is how the Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus came about:
(found on my prayer card)
It is related in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked Our Lord which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and Our Lord answered: "I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which was more painful than the others and which is not recorded by men. Honor this Wound with thy devotion and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through Its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins and will no longer remember their mortal sins."

Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus
O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other Wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.

You guys

So Sunday was my 1st time at church with my wig and I wasn't too happy about it. I'd have to say I was a real brat about it. I practically bit Rob's head off on the way because I felt like he was driving too slow.

We arrived early and I went up to say a prayer by the Blessed Mother. When I went to get up and go to my seat I seen my pastor and he was smiling and calling me over. Then he asked if I had a minute and as I'm following him I notice Rob walking back to his seat and I think that Rob he wen and told Father!

My pastor and he called me into the little room and asked to me to have a seat in the big red velvet chair. He asked how I was doing and told me I looked good and we chatted about chemo, eating and prayer. I finally just spilled that I was having a hard time with my wig- because I have a feeling he already knew. So he simply said to me "You know what- in the scheme of things Danielle the wig doesn't matter". Well how true is that. H E L L O Danielle- how quick I forget how lucky I am!!!
He gave me a big hug and said they will continue to pray for me and that was that.

I went back to my seat and felt better.

I'm lucky to have Rob and my pastor. It was nice of Rob to talk to Father even though at first I thought I wanted to kill him. Rob knows me and he knew that Father would help me. I'm glad Rob feels comfortable talking to our pastor. I don't know what I would do with out these 2!

Rob and Father on the night of his confirmation.