Lighten Up #103: Lesley Miller

Lighten Up with Melanie Dale

We're in the middle of our series, lighten up about illness, and today I'm talking with my friend Lesley Miller. Lesley and I met through Coffee+Crumbs, she's an incredible writer, and she's currently going through what she calls her second cancer year. Her husband Jonathan had cancer, and now her son Owen was diagnosed last October and has been going through treatment. We chat about the differences and similarities between adult cancer and childhood cancer, and how it's impacted her life and her other kids. Lesley shares what cancer has taught her, how they're coping and lightening up in the middle of this, and how she deals with the emotional burden of caring for her family. She says that the biggest gift people can give to people going through illness is seeing them. She shares how can we support our friends with kids dealing with life-threatening illnesses and advises us to let the parents take the lead. And maybe my favorite part of the interview is her insight into lightening up, how she sees two parts to lightening up - the soul work part and the everyday fun stuff. You have to do the first one in order to have the second. Lesley is incredibly helpful and insightful so if you have people in your life currently walking through childhood cancer and you're wondering how to support them, this is the perfect conversation for you, so listen in and lighten up.

Links from the show:

• Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman
• When Life and Beliefs Collide by Carolyn Custis James
• The American Marriage by Tayari Jones
• Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan
• Twirl by Callie Feyen