Climbing the Mountain
We all face trying times; how do we talk about them? For Howard Brown and his daughter Emily, there's no better way than straight-ahead and with joy.
By Howard and Emily Brown
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Editor’s Note: I met Howard Brown two years ago when I set out to write my own book, 30 Days with America’s High School Coaches. He was remarkable at that time for then-enduring his second battle with cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer is back. But Howard’s positive attitude continues to shine brighter than ever. In this special podcast with his daughter Emily, Howard discusses having the really difficult conversations we all face in our lives. What follows is reprinted with permission from Read the Spirit.
How can we talk about the truly tough stuff? Here’s a remarkable model for such conversations from Shining Brightly author and columnist Howard Brown in Michigan and his daughter Emily, who now is a TV journalist based in Montana. Howard has decided to pause his very popular weekly podcast—also called Shining Brightly like his memoir—because he is in the midst of a life-and-death struggle with aggressive leukemia. This is the third time that this nationally known patient advocate has grappled with deadly long-odds cancer himself. At the moment, he is trying to hang on—living one day at a time in an isolated hospital room, hoping that his chemo is working and that a bone marrow transplant in early 2025 can save his life.
Before Howard took his break from producing his weekly podcast, he published a special episode that he and Emily have titled “Climbing the Mountain.” Since this podcast went public a few days ago, Howard has received messages from friends and colleagues nationwide asking if they can share this father-daughter conversation with others. “Of course you can share it anywhere you want,” Howard says from his hospital room. “That’s why we recorded this—in the hope that people who listen may find their story reflected in our story.”
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