The Family Room (The Quest)

Join co-hosts Mari Cleveland from St. Jude the Apostle and John Gordon and Craig Wesemeyer from St. Peter Chanel as they speak with authors, theologians, and local priests and lay leaders to provide your family encouragement, resources, and hope. Enjoy heartfelt stories and engaging conversations with Catholics who are excited to share their life experiences and acquired wisdom to help your family continue to live out your faith with joy.
Living With a Terminal Diagnosis
Aug 28, 2024
Living With a Terminal Diagnosis

Tracy Winsor, wife, mother, grandmother, and ministry founder


Few things will knock the wind out of your sails like a cancer diagnosis – except maybe a terminal cancer diagnosis. Tracy Winsor had been thoroughly content raising six sons and managing a highly-acclaimed non-profit when she received the diagnosis of stage-four metastatic breast cancer in 2022.

Your whole world stops at moments like these as you want desperately to find that it’s not true. Tracy shares how a priest’s statement during Confession became the key to a profound change in how she saw her diagnosis. As she says, you can become so desperate looking for an angel that you miss God.

Instead, she stresses that in difficult moments, focus on God, not what you think you need from God. With incredible humor, listen as Tracy lays out some of the powerful answers that have helped her reframe the hard stuff, taking the focus off death so that she can truly learn to live the best life she can, for however long God allows her to live it.

Tracy was the straggler in a family of four with her older siblings already in their mid-teens when she was born. As a result, she was raised as an only child with mom and grandma teaching her how to embrace her Catholic faith. Tracy graduated from Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL, with a double major in Psychology and English. She later earned her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Aside from their six sons, Tracy and John recently added their sixth grandchild. They also have two babies in heaven.

Resources

  • Be Not Afraid – www.BeNotAfraid.net - Extensive information for those interested in learning about prenatal diagnoses and trauma-informed-care.
  • The Family Room – Be Not Afraid! which aired July 17, 2024
  • If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of The Boat by John Ortberg. This book was mentioned by Tracy as instrumental in her journey.
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