Full Circle: a Year of Love, Death, and Life

Lisa Schamess and her husband, Gil, are the authors of

a Beliefnet column documenting their joint struggle to live fully and raise their baby daughter, Mona, in the face of Gil's diagnosis of metastatic liver cancer. Their essays offer a rare glimpse into the braided realities of patient and caretaker. On January 29, 2000, Gil died peacefully at home.

Since then, Lisa has authored "

" The column poignantly chronicles her life in the year after Gil's death as both widow and new mother.

Follow their journey on Beliefnet...

	A Diary of Living with Cancer by Lisa and Gil Schamess		Widow's Walk: A Year's Journey Through Grief by Lisa Schamess
	Installment I Lost and Found How Lisa supported Gil through life-threatening illness. More...		Installment VI The Valley of the Shadow Lisa reflects on the final weeks of her husband's illness and the first weeks of her new life alone. More...
	Installment II Diagnosis One minute you have a life, seconds later you have a life-threatening disease. More...		Installment VII Light and Shadow Reflections on combining young motherhood and young widowhood. More...
	Installment III Spiraling Downward Lisa helps guide the family through the stages of Gil's disease. More...		Installment VIII Homesick When the person who is your heart's chosen home goes away, where does your heart go? More...
	Installment IV Falling Off the Cliff With the deterioration of Gil's health, Lisa reaches the end of hope. More...		Installment IX Memorial Days Finding solace from grief in life's small, perfect moments. More...
	Installment V Lucky A short, short story by Gil Schamess. More...		Installment X Womanly Art of Self-Expression Sometimes just doing what needs to be done is enough. More...
			Installment XI Relief and Regret At Yom Kippur, what does the holiday ritual of annulling vows mean to a widow? More...
			Installment XII House of Memory In her final column, Lisa reflects on the past year as a widow and on the future. More...