masterwordsmith-unplugged

Life rarely happens like it's supposed to. Just ask Kym Mowery or her son, Daniel, Jr.

It was her husband, a black belt and military man, who was the healthy one. She was the one diagnosed with uterine cancer, undergoing almost two years of chemotherapy. And when she moved from South Caroline to Idaho Falls for her job at Cooper Norman, it all changed.

Kym Mowery: "My husband was packing our stuff and he went to sleep and didn't wake up. It never crossed our mind he'd be the one to pass away."

Never crossed their mind he would die of an unknown heart condition, never crossed their mind emotionally, nor financially.

Mowery: "If you're thinking about cutting expenses, life insurance isn't the place to cut it."

But in the face of agony, she would find strength, work full time and raise her son. And four years later, she is helping cancer patients and widows be prepared -- whether it be for wills, life insurance, bank accounts, things that should be in order.

Mowery: "It's overwhelming, and you don't want to deal with that when you're planning a funeral."

If we're lucky, some of us will never know how we would handle such pain. But Kym's sister Korri knew it was handled exemplary.

She nominated Kym for a national State Farm Insurance Embrace Life award.

And now, Kym is one of 13 people in America to be honored today on May 7th, 2009.

Mowery: "People don't know how to handle loss, it's hard for people to talk about. That was the best part of being in a room with 12 others with a loss like mine, I didn't have to say anything to them. They knew what I felt like... I really want people to find joy in the journey of life."

Kym is now cancer free, remarried with a new family. She says you can still be happy in life, even when bad things happen.

Dear blog reader and friend,

I have had a few readers/friends who have requested for a change in the template for this blog because they do not like the pink color and the hearts in the header and corners of the template frame. Surprisingly, this comment came mostly from ladies :-).

So far, none of the other readers have made any other comment.

I value your input greatly and would appreciate your comments.

In the past, I used to change my template quite often (every three weeks) but it is a tedious and tiresome affair. For the past two weeks, I have been hunting around for a suitable template and have scrutinized hundreds from many websites.

The only fear I have in changing my template is losing my blog readers who may not like/be accustomed to the new template.

I like this pink template because it provides a frame for quotes which no other template offers (at least none that I have seen so far). It might surprise you to know that I am not a 'pink' person but I am comfortable with the current template although I have shortlisted a few template designs.

So, I would appreciate if you could let me know if you PREFER THE CURRENT TEMPLATE or DO NOT MIND a template change.

Please leave a comment and I assure you that I will take your input into consideration.

Thanks for your time and have a great day!

My greatest earthly treasures would be my books and compact disc collection. Currently, I have a sizeable collection of books from the 1960's to the present and there is no more space on any of my shelves in my home :-), much to my hubby's chagrin. Of all my favorite writers, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is definitely my favorite together with J.M. Coetzee, Ha Jin, Toni Morrison, Jumpha Lahiri and others. I have and love all his books with the exception of his last book , Memories of my Melancholy Whores.

Siew Hoon sent me this set of slides which documents his letter to his friends and loved ones following his decision to withdraw from society due to his battle against cancer. It is a very beautifully written, poignant and touching letter and there is much that we can learn from him...