From time to time life invites us to integrate our learning and experience to take a big step into something different. Now is such a time! I’m excited to share this new chapter!

New Podcast for Caregivers

Bringing resources to caregivers dealing with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and welcoming all who are tasked with caring for loved ones with prolonged diseases.

Welcome! I’m glad you stopped by today. As we all know—sometimes painfully—life continues to challenge us to adapt, grow and move beyond where we’ve been. In response, this website has been updated and expanded to include our new Compassion Chats podcast as well as an eclectic blog meant to entertain and perhaps inspire you to accept and positively respond to the challenges you face. I invite you to engage, ponder and reach out with a request, challenge or additional thought. If you would like to be a guest on our Compassion Chats podcast, please complete the form below.

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Recent Podcasts

Chat with Us

Our mission is to help others grow, while continuing to appreciate and learn from every person and experience we encounter. Please join us! Your unique story enriches us all.

backbone banter blog

Backbone Banter Blog

Welcome! This blog is the product of many years of working with three elements of backbone: competence, confidence, and risk taking, as well as a writer’s compulsion to express. It is a weekly real-time collection of observations, musings, and an occasional rant. There’s no agenda, other than to comment on the world as it appears behind my eyeballs, hoping it

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Devil as Diagnostician

“The devil is a keen diagnostician.” I heard this idea in a sermon recently and found it compelling. I’ve been reflecting on it and watching for evidence. It is everywhere. The devil (a name for any maleficent force) knows each of us well: Our weaknesses, past mistakes, secret regrets. As we ruminate on such things, he/it weaves our sadness and

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Devil as Diagnostician

“The devil is a keen diagnostician.” I heard this idea in a sermon recently and found it compelling. I’ve been reflecting on it and watching for evidence. It is everywhere. The devil (a name for any maleficent force) knows each of us well: Our weaknesses, past mistakes, secret regrets. As we ruminate on such things, he/it weaves our sadness and

Read More »

Taking Charge

Who controls your mind? You do. Period. Full stop. The noisy environment in which we live is rife with fast-changing images, headlines, emojis, you-name-it. If you want peace, serenity or sanity, stop giving this your attention. YOU choose what to engage. Always have, always will. You can blame others who lure you into content with click-bait, but that’s a fool’s

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You Matter–Profoundly

You Matter–Profoundly It is the Friday before Christmas and for my family it has been a difficult and tragic week. I learned mid-week that my older sister has entered end stage renal disease. She has begun dialysis three times a week and will continue this for the rest of her life. She is pragmatic about this development. Her health has

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Books by Susan A. Marshall

Mom’s Gone Missing: When a Parent’s Changing Life Upends Yours

How to Grow a Backbone: 10 Strategies for Gaining Power and Influence at Work

Life. Be In It. Words of Wisdom, Humor and Engagement

Of Beauty and Substance: A Backbone Guide for Women