Sister Trip 2024

 

My sister and I have the wonderful tradition now of going on a Sister Trip on the anniversary of John's birthday/death. This year, we went to Mobile, Alabama. It was a fun-filled, frigid time. Since it was a few days after Mardi Gras, we could tell the parade route by the trees laden with necklaces. We visited the DAR House, the History Museum of Mobile, The USS Alabama and Drum, Fort Conde, the Mardi Gras Museum, Bellingrath Home and Gardens, two cemeteries, candy shop (perhaps more than once), and other places, too. Also tradition, we got cake pops to honor John's birthday. We stayed at the Malaga Inn, built in the 1860s and probably haunted. Ready for our next adventure!

More Stickies from John

I am still finding sticky notes left by John for me. Recently, I culled through more of his books, careful to check for messages by flipping the pages slowly. 

One day, John asked me the number you call when you need help. 

(He couldn't remember 911.) 

I wrote it on this card for him and he kept it by his chair.

Found it tucked in a book also.

On Love, Language, and Loss

Liquidating Life was featured in a magazine article which asked the question, "How do we know what other people think, except through language?  How do we know them, if they cannot express what they think or feel?  Such are the predicaments that these writers address, as they explore how brain injury can affect a relationship, a life."

Four books were compared:  One Hundred Names for Love: A Memoir; To Love What Is:  A Marriage Transformed; Liquidating Life; Still Alice.

The author of the article, Joyce Meier, addresses results of a stroke, injuries sustained in a fall, a brain tumor, and Alzheimer's, and the affects on how communication changes and the frustrations and breakthroughs that come with it.

She also used her skills as a writing professor to critique the actual writing of the books, covering the styles of each author and how their word choices reflect their experiences.

It was an honor to be included in this group of authors who dared to show their walk through many tough days with their loved one.

"Fourth Genre:  Exploration in Nonfiction"
Volume 17, Number 2, Fall 2015;  pp. 189-196
Michigan State University Press

Liquidating Life: An Almost Daily Account of a Journey With Brain Cancer is available at amazon.com.

birthdays and anniversaries

To celebrate John's birthday each year, I usually get a cake pop from Starbucks.  This year, I was in Orlando visiting my sister and her family in February.  To commemorate his birthday, Sharon and I got a Mickey cake pop at Disney!  

************************************************

I have also started the tradition of getting a wind chime to mark the anniversary of John's passing.  Since I spent the weekend at Disney this February, I wanted one Disney-related.  Since I couldn't find one that hit me just right, I ordered the chime in the picture below.  It is "Cinderella blue," and has a butterfly (which played an important role in the live-action Cinderella movie).  

**************************************************

....and of course, here is a picture of Cinderella and me!

John would have gotten a kick out of me meeting her.

Relay for Life

The school where I teach held its first Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society in May, 2016.

This is my luminary in memory of John and my friend Vickie.

Taylor County (FL) Friends of the Library

July 27, 2015
The Taylor County Friends of the Library were a gracious audience for my talk about "Liquidating Life", Voices Against Brain Cancer, and the publishing process.

summer of discovery

Doing more painting and while taking figurines off a shelf, found another sticky note from John folded and hidden there.  He must have written it early on because it has my name and the message made sense.

John Strikes Again

Summer brings the major projects I've put off until I have the time, such as painting and moving furniture to clean.  Today I painted the hall which meant I had to take the pictures off the wall.  When I went to rehang the largest one, on the back I found another sticky note from John, as well as a photo.  He went through a phase of scanning leaves from the yard and making photographs of them.  (One particularly excellent one is enlarged and hanging in the living room.)  Just when months or a year passes and I'm not expecting to find another note from him, one appears.

..........and again today, June 17, 2015, while prepping to paint the bathroom, I took the picture off the wall, and stuck to the price tag still hanging on the back was this sticky from John:

which begs the question, how long HAS it been since I've deep cleaned???

John's 53rd birthday  (02/18/15)

4th anniversary of his passing (02/19/15)

annual birthday cake pop

chocolate caramel sea salt

I am going to start a tradition of getting a wind chime to mark the anniversary of John's passing.  This is the wind chime I got this year.

My first assignment as the 

local ambassador 

for 

Voices Against Brain Cancer 

was this interview on WCTV (11/10/14):

http://www.wctv.tv/video?videoid=2973788

FREE ON KINDLE

Sept. 27-28, 2014
Liquidating Life is FREE on kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Liquidating-Life-Laura-G-Cogdill-ebook/dp/B00D0CJMJA/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1

silver medal winner

Liquidating Life was awarded a silver medal in the Health & Fitness category by the Florida Authors & Publishers Association, at their fall conference August 9, 2014.

It is a wonderful honor to be selected and acknowledged in this way.  

This is a picture of the display at the conference.

 

                                                                                     

more updates

July 29th, 2014 I found another sticky note John left for me.  It was stuck to the back cover of a music book on the shelf.  The book was yellow like the note, and I had flipped through the pages, stacked it with other books, put it in a box, then turned it over to make it stack better, and BAM, there was the note.

Not sure exactly what it says, but it doesn't matter.  It's been right at 2 years since I found one, and truly thought there probably weren't any more.  It was a happy day!

Character Blog Hop

 I was invited by Susan Womble (www.susanwomble.com) to participate in the Character Blog Hop. Here are my answers to the questions about a character in my story. I will also post them on my facebook page, .
https://www.facebook.com/LiquidatingLife?fref=ts

1.  What is the name of your character?  
John Dennis Cogdill, and yes, he was a character.
2.  When and where is the story set? Tallahassee and Havana; 2009-2012.
3.  What should we know about him?   
John Dennis was a gracious, big-hearted person.
4.  What is the main conflict?   
A diagnosis of brain cancer changed John Dennis' world in 2009.
5.  What is the personal goal of the character?   
John Dennis' main goal was to get the gospel message to as many as he could in the time he had left.
6.  What is the title of this book?   "Liquidating Life"

August, 2011 hair today, gone tomorrow

Three and a half years ago, I cut my hair and donated it to Locks of Love in memory of my bestest friend, Vickie, who died of lung cancer.  When we realized how sick John was and he shaved his head for surgeries, I decided to grow and donate my hair again.  I waited until after my trip west because I knew we'd be hiking and I wanted to be able to put it up.  My sister was all too happy to chop-chop the length and ship it off to be made into a wig for someone going through chemo or in need of the hair I could give.

It was another emotional, meaningful connection to John.  Everyone in the shop knew why I was there and were encouraging and supportive of my new look.  My plan is to grow and donate it again in a couple of years.  There are stipulations for donating hair.  If you are interested, check with your hair care professional.
http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html

Brain Tumor Awareness

http://www.braintumor.org/get-involved/advocacy-public-policy/BTAM.html

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month
Follow the link for more information.

Thanks