For years, the media has led the charge on the importance of balancing work, life and family, particularly for women who are still the main caretakers of the house and family, regardless of whether they work outside the home or not. I was convinced that I had it all under control. Working in the high paced, high stress world of high tech, climbing the corporate ladder of success, I still managed to eat healthy, exercise daily, entertain friends, remember birthdays and take vacations. Then when my family started to fall apart due to illness and death, I successfully lived two separate lives with the skill of a juggler watching one ball in the air and one in the hand. One life was in and out of corporate boardrooms doing business presentations, and the other was in and out of hospital rooms dealing with doctors.

I certainly felt capable of gracefully handling it all