I wanted a superhero cape

Wednesday's sneak peek

superhero cape for you…pass it on.

Another sneak peek of my upcoming memoir—

A REAL BALLBUSTER: Untangling Testicular Cancer Together

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Jeff was standing outside waiting for me after his PET scan. He got in the car and the first words out of his mouth were “I’m radioactive. I need to keep my distance from you and the kids.”

“Are you kidding?”

“No.”

He was serious. I tried not to roll my eyes in frustration.

“They told me I shouldn’t put the kids to bed tonight or be close to them until tomorrow, no hugs.”

I didn’t see this coming. Did they mention this and I just don’t remember?

“Hmm…okay.”

I let it go. No point in getting upset about it. I was learning to pivot. I reasoned more practice was a good thing.

When the kids got home from school I tried to come up with some superhero happy twist— yet failed. My capacity to think on the fly was not happening. I gave it to them straight, “We need to keep our distance from Dad just until tomorrow morning. He had a test done that made him radioactive, and we don’t want to be in close contact with the radiation. I’ll put you both to bed tonight.”

Their eyes widened, “Whoa, okay.” 

They didn’t need anything more and went off to play. I was grateful my children were reminding me I didn’t have to try so hard. I didn’t need to pretend this wasn’t happening. I didn’t need to put a positive spin on every single thing. 

This was difficult for me as a mother— it was hard to see my children disappointed, sad, and worried— yet these emotions were all a part of life. It wasn’t my job to shield them or deny them their feelings. It was my job to listen and give them a safe place to land. I prayed I was showing up in this way.

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Thank you for reading along.

Take good care,

Julie