One of my readers asked me to write about coronavirus anxiety. I’ve spent the past week coming up with solution-focused approaches to the pandemic because that’s how my brain is wired — I spent seven years and tens of thousands of dollars on…
Columns
Like me, you’ve probably had far fewer face-to-face interactions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s no longer safe to have company over, and we can’t meet friends or family members for lunch. I’ve been unable to gather with my friends at Turnstone for over a month. These types…
The other day, I read one of my old columns and thought to myself, “Honey, if you only knew what was to come.” My January column, “Please Stop Glorifying Being Homebound,” was all about how I spend every winter hunkered down in my home to avoid…
Like everybody else, Ella has been kept in the house because of COVID-19. During the school week, she spends much of her morning working on classroom assignments. Each morning she has a Zoom meeting (virtual conferencing) with her whole fourth-grade class and the teacher.
The receptionist at my physical therapy clinic looked up from his computer, meeting my eyes. I could see the lightbulb shine in his brain. “That’s right, I remember your name was Kevin because you look like the guy in ‘Clerks.’” Being a…
You can tell I got my master’s degree in mental health counseling because there are certain things I cannot tolerate. For example, baffling definitions of codependency. People sling “codependent” around like mud. Google codependency…
I didn’t intend to write another column about The Virus, at least not right after my last one, but it seemed appropriate to share a surprising revelation from after my baby was diagnosed with the deadliest form of spinal muscular atrophy. My husband,…
Spring is peering its head around the corner of winter. Some warm days with slight winds blow the remaining leaves around in swirls. Small yellow flowers poke themselves up through the hardened ground. Buds are forming on tree branches and birds chirp a new song for the upcoming…
Amid the cluster of medical equipment, my childhood bedroom had an even more distinguishable feature: buckets and buckets of plastic action figures. I had everything from six-inch “Star Wars” figurines to characters from the beloved Nickelodeon series “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” I could…
“I hate to say it,” my dad said, “but you’re getting a little heavy.” A miracle, really, when you consider my base weight of 50 pounds. I was a baby for the longest time. A young adult in a preteen body. One of my biggest challenges…
