1. Truth: I’m grateful for Sam’s health. He has a lump on his side, and today we found out it’s a benign fatty tumor (a lipoma), not cancer. If you know our experience with dogs and cancer, you know that this is a mini Christmas miracle.

2. Truth: I had ambitious plans for today. Well, what I really mean is I meant to go to the gym. However, after meditating, writing, putting away laundry, going on a two hour walk, showering, and taking Sam to the vet, after worrying what the news would be for the past week, I came home and took a long nap instead. I was so tired, relieved but tired.

3. Truth: One of my aunts died yesterday. We knew it was coming. She knew it was coming. It was her second time with cancer and treatments had stopped working a while ago. She hadn’t spoken or been awake for the past week at least. She told my mom she’d make it until Christmas, but I’m sure when she said that, she’d planned on celebrating the day. She didn’t have the easiest life, spent a lot of it confused, and cancer is never easy, but she was surrounded and cared for by people who loved her (always, not just at the end), which is so much more than many people get.

One wish: While we are here, may we care for ourselves and be cared for by others, and when we go, may our death be easy.