Lou and David Sears

Saturday, September 29th, I received an award at the ICE-T (Immune Cell Effector Therapy) Congress held on the campus of the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Abdallah, my myeloma specialist, explained it was for my commitment to helping other myeloma patients. I’m humbled by the award.

Book Launch Celebration
Living with Hope: A Myeloma Journey

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our book, Living with Hope: A Myeloma Journey! This story is deeply personal, so it felt only right to host the celebration in the comfort of our home, surrounded by the people who have supported us every step of the way.

There will be a brief reading during the event—I’ll be sharing one of my favorite journal entries, and David will read an excerpt from his Afterword. With so many wonderful people planning to attend, it might be a little chaotic—but above all, it will be fun!

To help make the day special, we’ve ordered beautiful, coordinated plates, napkins, and utensils from a special occasion collection. We’ve even included some paper fans in the same pattern—perfect for any children (especially our grandchildren!) who may join us. We will be serving fruit, cheese, and cupcakes.

We’ve also added a few personal touches:
✨ A guest book – so when I’m old and gray (no comments, please!), I can look back and remember everyone who was with us on this meaningful day.
📚 Laminated bookmarks – because I’ve always loved a good bookmark that lies flat and holds your place just right.

Most importantly, we want to say thank you. We truly could not have completed this journey—or this book—without the unwavering love and support of our family and friends.

With gratitude and love,

Lou and David Sears

My husband David and I have been working for the past several months putting together our book “Living with Hope: A Myeloma Journey” that tells about our twelve year journey with multiple myeloma.

The following is the “SHAZAM” summary on the back of our book.

A true story of love, courage, and resilience in the face of an incurable cancer

When life changes in an instant, how do you hold on to hope?

Living with Hope is the moving true story of one couple’s journey after an incurable cancer diagnosis. From the initial shock of diagnosis to navigating treatments, clinical trials, and the unpredictability of remission and relapse, this intimate memoir offers an honest and heartfelt look at the emotional and physical challenges of living with multiple myeloma. Told with raw vulnerability and unwavering love, this book is not just about cancer – it’s about choosing hope when everything feels uncertain, finding strength in partnership and embracing life. For anyone facing the unthinkable – or walking beside someone who is – Living with Hope is a testament to the power of love, perseverance, and the human spirit.

Our book is available through Archway Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

I have mentioned before that I have Multiple Myeloma. I was diagnosed in 2013 and have had many treatments and taken various drugs to fight this disease. I’ve been in and out of remission and am starting my fifth clinical trial.

My husband and I were talking the other day, and he mentioned that I should write a book about my experiences. He thought it might help others who are fighting cancer. I’ve thought about it a lot lately, and I believe I am ready to start writing about my myeloma journey. Stay tuned for excerpts from my early attempts at writing my story.

I grew up in a small lead mining town called Leadwood about an hour south of St. Louis. One of the main grocery stores was called L&M IGA and it was owned by a minister friend of my dad’s. We shopped there each Saturday for groceries. Christmas was getting close, and it was the custom of the store to put toys on the shelves above the produce section. That is where you would find me staring up at the most beautiful Cinderella doll I had ever seen. She had a sparkly blue ruffled dress, pearl earrings, a necklace, and high heels. In the box was also a small golden coach. I wanted that doll so badly that I even prayed each night that she would be under my tree Christmas morning.

The last Saturday before Christmas, I rushed into the store before my family and dashed to the Produce Aisle. She was gone! My Cinderella doll was not there! I was heartbroken. I knew someone had gotten it for their little girl.

When Christmas morning came, my sisters rushed into the living room to open their presents under the tree. I followed them into the room knowing I would not be getting “my” Cinderella doll. Much to my surprise there under the tree was the box with the doll with her sparkling blue dress and golden coach. With tears in my eyes, I ran to the doll and picked her up, and hugged her. I didn’t know that it was my dad who had purchased the doll before Christmas. He had noticed me admiring the doll each week. It was truly the best Christmas ever!

I found a picture in a Google search just like my doll, minus the golden coach.

May you receive your heart’s desire this Christmas!

I haven’t added to my blog for a while. Life gets in the way. I’ve been going through a new Clinical Trial for my Multiple Myeloma and fatigue is a side effect. It also affects your motivation. Because I haven’t been able to write lately, I’ve felt guilty. Then, I realized I have been writing – posts on FB from time to time and updates on my Caring Bridge blog. So, because I’m a writer/storyteller at heart, my writing has been more focused on my cancer journey. I believe we write what is on our minds and that is what has consumed my mind lately.

Why do we feel the need to write? For me, it’s a way to process what is happening in my life. So many times I have been able to get a clearer picture of the questions I have and ways to approach a problem. An example of how writing has helped me in my cancer journey has been through writing in my Caring Bridge blog. Documenting my journey has helped me formulate questions for my medical team and realize what is important to me.

More than anything, I love my family and miss those who are not with us any longer. I miss my mom and dad, but those who have been on my mind lately are my sisters, Debbie and Marilyn. I found black and white pictures of us when we were little. We were stair steps – I’m the oldest, Debbie was two years younger, and Marilyn was two years younger than her. My youngest sister Sharon (Sherry) and baby of the family Dan are still with me. As kids, we moved a lot because my dad was a minister and would go from one church to another about every three to four years. As a result, I attended four different schools kindergarten through twelfth grade.

When you move to a new community and begin a new school, it’s always a challenge to make new friends. For me, it wasn’t as difficult as it was for some of my siblings. I think this would make a great theme for a new picture book. When I was still teaching reading, several of my students who were struggling with reading were kiddos who had moved several times. They lost out on continuity in reading instruction. Having difficulty learning can also lead to difficulty making friends and low self esteem. I envision a little first grader named Hope who has moved a couple of times and also receives help in reading. The title would of course have to be HOPE!

Words can move us to tears or anger. They can also move us to action. Words are powerful.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about writing a story that could help kids who are going through difficult times.

Before I retired from teaching, I was always in awe of teachers who planned activities that ignited a spark of kindness in their students. One such activity was called the Kindness Chain. For one week each spring, students were encouraged to show an act of kindness for another student or watch for acts of kindness that others might show. The classroom teachers would have pre-cut slips of colored construction paper, and students would write down acts of kindness they observed or exhibited during the week. The paper slips were linked together and displayed around the grade level hallway. If the grade level connected the chain all the way around by the end of the week, they would get to celebrate with a popcorn party.

I thought this would make a fun picture book for primary students and inspire other students and teachers to do this for their school. While still teaching, I would often use a picture book to introduce a concept or begin a reading or writing activity with my students. A book about a Kindness Chain could work as a catalyst to encourage kindness in a school.

Words are powerful.

So many things have happened since I last posted.  I reread my last blog written over 5 years ago and hadn’t remembered that my last posting was about my mother.  The summer before she passed away, I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.  I wasn’t able to travel much after my diagnosis because of the chemo I was receiving and subsequent stem cell transplant.  My last visit with my mother was in the fall of 2013.  I didn’t tell her about my cancer.  She was in failing health and didn’t need to worry about me.

Right after my stem cell transplant, I had to take off a half a year from teaching.  I thought…wow, all this time to write!  But, I couldn’t.  I found I didn’t have the energy or brain power to even revisit or revise some of my previous stories.  I returned to teaching that fall and haven’t written anything since then.  I am retiring the end of this school year and look forward to having more time to write.  I haven’t given up my dream of becoming a published children’s author.

It’s been very difficult lately to come up with a new idea for a children’s book. My mind continuously goes to my mother’s story. She has had an interesting life and has made it through several difficult times with grace.

My mother’s mother (my grandmother Marie) was married to an alcoholic who would frequently take off and leave his young family. Grandma Marie couldn’t take care of mom and sent her to be raised by her grandparents in California. Mom remembers being sent packages from time to time from her mom. They were usually dresses or skirts that her mom had made for her. (She’s wearing one of them in the photo.) She remembers other kids at school teasing her about being “given away” by her mother and how much it hurt her.

Great Grandpa Curry was a strict, cranky man who didn’t believe girls needed an education, so Mom was made to quit school after 8th grade. Mom said she cried and cried. She loved school and didn’t want to quit. Soon after, Mom was required to work as a migrant worker following the various seasonal crops up and down the state. Mom said they often lived in tents with dirt floors and worked in the fields from sunrise to sunset. She said much of this time is a blur.

When Mom was about 17 she came back to Missouri to live with her mother in Leadwood, Missouri. Mom remembers walking to the post office and boys sitting on the steps whistling at her. Our dad, Marvin, was one of those boys. He worked up the courage to ask Mom out on a date. Dad was so taken with Mom that he proposed after three weeks and they ran off to Paragould, Arkansas to get married. (There was no waiting period for marriage licenses in Arkansas at the time.) They moved to St. Louis so Dad could find work. Exactly nine months and twenty days later I was born. Debra, Marilyn, Sharon, and Daniel came soon after.

This is the story I want to tell for many reasons. Mom is not doing well and is now being seen by Hospice. I want Mom’s great-grandchildren to know about her life and the difficulties she had to face. She has always been one strong lady and needs to draw upon that strength to make it through this last stage of her life.

I’ve been thinking recently that I’m not very good at writing a story about something unconnected to my life.  Some writers are wonderful at writing fantasy stories about other worlds and characters they create.  Each of my stories have a connection to my childhood, my family, or my friends.  They are never written in an autobiographical way – just always anchored to something I’ve experienced.  My first story, Clara Finds Her Roots, blends my personal search for my Irish roots with my Granddaughter Clara’s curiosity about her Irish middle name.  My second story, Cross My Heart, tells the story of a quilted bear given to a young girl who gives it to her friend and then regrets her decision.  I actually received a beautiful rag doll made by my Grandma Daisy and gave it to my best friend in elementary school.   My third story, Chasing Tornadoes, is based on my experiences growing up with a dad who envisioned himself a storm chaser.  The idea for my fourth story, Mr. and Mrs. Cranky Pants, a story about cranky neighbors and their cranky cat, came from a couple of experiences with neighbors as a child.  My fifth story, The Little Tree, about a little girl dealing with the realities of having two homes after her parents divorce, is loosely based on the experiences of my husband and his daughter.

Some day I hope to become a published author and have the experience of sharing my stories with students and teachers.  Maybe I’ll have the opportunity to share the “roots” of my stories and inspire children to write the stories of their lives!