A prayer for Ludlow*

*I’ve decided to name my chemo port, which will be “placed” this coming Monday. My port will be named Ludlow. Port Ludlow, WA has been a sacred place for me and my family for two decades. A place of healing, growth, and joy. I pray each drip of the chemo through Ludlow, will “kick cancer to the curb” as I’m often saying, so my future will hold many years of such precious life-affirming memories as we’ve experienced in the Pacific Northwest.

You will be placed on a warm Dallas day with caring hands,

A physical portal of healing.

As the “red devil” drips and the summer temps climb

I will try to open the gates of my mind and soul, envisioning days

Of cool moss laden forests and meandering streams,

Of my hands running over rough bark of that stately Mother Tree.

Yes, I will return!

Return through cold caps and tears and rom-com binges.

I will try to breathe with each heave

Smile with tired eyes at the shouts of water fights in the backyard

And pray that the chemo sap that will infuse its way through you

Will bring me to a future of long Ludlow days

Where the sand is really beneath my feet

and the breeze touches my face as a kiss

Of gratitude

Of wonder

Of peace.