FoC 117: Brain Tumors, Prayer, and Being A Catholic Celebrity Whether You Like It Or Not with Jeannie Gaffigan

Today’s guest is none other than the producer, writer, and director, Jeannie Gaffigan! Jeannie is raising five children in New York City with her comedian husband, Jim. As if all of that wasn’t keeping her busy enough, in 2017 she was hit with the unexpected news that she had a life-threatening brain tumor and faced a dangerous surgery followed by a long recovery. Since then she has penned what must be the funniest book about brain tumors ever written: When Life Gives You Pears, a memoir that touches not just on the medical crisis that almost took her life but also on her faith, the support of her family, and the lessons she brought with her to the other side.

In this episode Jeannie shares with us about her Catholic faith, the power of prayer, how lessons about what really matters keep having to be learned over and over, the journey of being a recovering control freak, and what it’s like to be in the spotlight as a famous family who is Catholic (but never signed up to be your token Catholic celebrity!) When Life Gives You Pears was released just today, October 1st, and we both loved it. It’s a beautiful and vulnerable tribute to a faith that believes in miracles and you will laugh at every page until you start crying because it’s so moving. So grab a cup of tea and listen to Jeannie’s amazing story!

Jeannie’s book:

(links to Amazon.com are affiliate links)

When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, Hope, and Funny People

Other Things We Talked About:

* Jeannie and Jim’s non-profit: The Imagine Society

How to connect with Jeannie:

* Twitter* Instagram

Sponsor:

Today’s episode was brought to you by Rose Harrington, a home to botanical rosary art by Katrina Harrington. Her art is inspired by the tradition of Mary Gardens as well as paper, canvas and ceramic hand lettered goods, all made in the USA. 

In addition to the beautiful botanical prints, the shop features ceramic mugs made in Ohio with Katrina’s designs of the Morning Offering prayer, Offer It Up hand lettering, and a blue and white floral Fiat which lend you perfect reminders to pray the Morning Offering first thing in the morning with your morning cuppa, to groggily offer up whatever is making you reach for the caffeine or to pray, “Let it be done,” as Our Lady did.

During the medieval Age of Faith, rural Christians bestowed names upon flowers and plants to symbolically represent Mary, the Mother of God, as well as the life of Christ, the saints and the liturgical year. Katrina turned to these traditions to paint a botanical rosary – 20 flowers representing each of the mysteries of the rosary.  And they are gorgeous! Haley has Katrina’s botanical take on the Sorrowful M...