Bearing Witness

rentals are family-friendly and sit directly on the sandy shores of Lake Buchanan. They offer daily onsite rentals of jet-skis, kayaks, paddle-boards, pontoon boats and canoes.

Canyon of the Eagles: Nestled within 940 acres, the resort promises breathtaking views, spectacular sunsets and starry skies. There are over 14 miles of trails, and live music or movies under the stars. You can also check out their Eagle Eye Observatory.

Painted Sky Inn: Escape to this charming hidden Texas getaway on the eastern shore of Lake Buchanan. Located on a quiet peninsula. Great place for making memories with family and friends.

Things to do: Lake Buchanan Area

Vanishing Texas River Cruise: Go on a cruise to explore the scenic river view of Highland Lakes Region, the native wildlife, the Cascading waterfalls and towering cliffs, with the possibility of seeing the wintering Bald Eagles

Inks Lake State Park: This is a gem full of adventure and fun, with extensive hiking trails, the Devil’s Water Hole for swimming and striking sunsets

Longhorn Caverns State Park: It’s main attraction is the underground wonder of the Longhorn Cavern created by an ancient river.

Perissos Vineyards: With rows of vines to welcome you, take a seat at an outdoor picnic table and enjoy some tasty wines. Sage’s favorite winery in Texas!

About the Author: Sage Woman is an Intuitive and Spiritual Life Coach. Contact her to schedule an individual session with her. Her passion is to assist you in empowering and co-creating the life you desire with tools and practical applications along with intuitive messages to guide your journey. For more information, contact her at 512-234-2075, or email sagewomen61@gmail.com.

Bearing Witness by Cynthia M. Brown

I have written about my mother’s struggles with cancer in the place before. It has been over 10 years since her first diagnosis of stage 3 ovarian cancer. A year after that first diagnosis, the news was more grim; stage four, metastatic estrogen receptive ovarian cancer of the lymphatic system. Over the years it has invaded her brain twice and her liver and she has beaten the odds and lived...long enough to become a great grandmother. Not bad for someone with a prognosis of two to four months at the age of 69. She will be 79 this October.

I write of her again in this space because the battle has been renewed. Her cancer is on the march, causing renal failure, fluid on the lungs and horrible pain as her lymph nodes swell with disease and throb in agony. She has had emergency kidney surgery to place stints to help her kidney function. She has had her lungs drained and has an oxygen tank to help her breath as her lungs heal. Her treatments began again. They require almost 7 hours to apply. The trip to the clinic is one hour each way, traffic and weather permitting.

I write of these events as summer wanes because fall has always been my mother’ season. I write of these things because my sister, with whom my mother lives, bears the responsibility of caring for her. My sister cared for my father through 20 years of heart disease and two broken hips. She did that while caring for my mother during the early years of her disease and healing from her own heart attack. I write of these things here because I am 10 hours from home and unable to be of much help. I write of these things to bear witness to my sister’s unconditional love and care of our parents and her unwavering faith that it is her honor to do so. I write of these things because I am learning to steward by being in prayer and holding space, things not easy for a person of action who is accustomed to fixing things, to doing something.

I write because this summer feels like the end of something larger than a season. No one is immune to the fact that my mother is a decade older, that her body has endured massive stress from her disease and from the therapies applied to extend her life. No one

is immune to the fact that my father, her mate of 58 years has been gone for five years this September, and that while she has much family and love in her life, the void left from 58 years of companionship cannot be filled and she is lonely and tired. It feels as if the wind has shifted and the season, like fall, the season of transition is upon us. I write because fall is her season. It is the season of her birth. It has been the season in which she has always planned...holidays, next year’s vacation, next year’s gardens, next year’s care of the house. I write this because as summer ends, it is the season of the beginning of her life’s end. It is somehow fitting that we, her daughters, begin the emotional planning of this change of season. We begin the march toward the tribe of the parentless. It is a march we face with great sadness for we have been blessed to have had them both for 50 years and our mother for more than that.

So, I listen a great deal and read a great deal from my sister. She writes how honored and humbled she is to share in the intimacies of caring for our mother. She tells me of how many things our father confided in her as he aged and needed her help more and more. She unburdens her heart after she has held our mother as she shook uncontrollably from pain and chills. She tells me of our mother’s grace and fortitude at the indignities of needing help with such intimate self care as going to the bathroom or showering or sometimes when the pain is relentless, of feeding her. For her, it is a familiar stewardship. She, along with my mother, took the same loving care of my father, while I watched and listened from afar; able to return home only for short visits to give her respite and to raise their spirits.

I watch and listen from afar and learn what unconditional love means and how it is lived everyday. I learn to be in an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving each waking moment for their life; their example of grace, courage and dignity at life’s final transition. I have come to understand that my stewardship is perhaps more difficult in some ways. I am here to bear witness, not up close; not to their suffering or transition. My stewardship is to bear witness to the life and love of my sister. It is painful to watch her and to hear her pain as she endures our mother’s pain and as she feels the loss so closely. It is painful not to be able to be of more help. It is also an honor and my humble privilege to do so. This summer will end. Our mother’s life is in the hands of God and her healers. She may be with us another fall. She may transition. I only know for certain that my journey from afar has changed me and I am made wiser and better by understanding it. May you find peace and wisdom as we all journey to the fall and winter of the year.

Feel Better Fast!

       

Brian Eastman, LIIFT Practitioner 513 541 1257 - brian.eastman@LIIFT.info

Offices in Cincinnati, West Chester, Dayton.

SAGE WOMAN

Ordained Minister, Shamanic Priestess, Intuitive Spiritual Life Coach, Intuitive Readings

• Personal Empowerment • Co-create your future, tap into your own divine energy with Spiritual Counseling

512-234-2075

Call and schedule a session with Sage sagewomen61@gmail.com www.connectingwiththegoddesswithin.com