Columns

A few weeks ago, someone posted a question in a Facebook group for people living with neuromuscular conditions. The question, composed of a few simple words, prompted me to stop and think. How’s your life going right now? A question like this should be…

As a kid, I assumed that happiness would be accompanied by a kiss in the rain, like the iconic scene between Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray in “A Cinderella Story.” Or that scene in “The Princess Diaries 2:…

Have you ever seen a person with a wheelchair rolling toward you and wondered how you should react? You’re likely not the only one. Here are a few pointers for the next time you find yourself in this situation: Make eye contact You don’t need to stare, but…

What seems a lifetime ago, my husband, Randy, and I decided to return to school for our teacher certifications. After quitting our joint job at a residential facility for at-risk teens, Randy went first. To pay the bills, I applied to be a substitute teacher. I requested…

The old saying, “You don’t know what you have until you lose it,” rings true these days. We took our accessible van to Superior Van and Mobility in South Bend, Indiana, about two hours from our home. They diagnosed the problem with the ramp…

I remember it like it was yesterday. Every muscle in my body tensed up as I looked at my parents from across the kitchen table. I had never before felt as nervous as I did at that moment. Even as I tried to remember the details of my…

If you are an avid football fan like me, I have great news. We don’t have to endure a Sunday without football for the rest of the year! Typing this makes me giddy, for it is the most wonderful time of the year in my playbook. However, I once would…

“I’m so excited,” Ella kept saying the afternoon before her first rehearsal with the Young Naperville Singers. When it was finally time to leave, we loaded her and her manual wheelchair into the van. (The broken door on the ramp side means we cannot…

For most people, lifting weights is a suitable form of physical exercise. For me, successfully turning just one page of a book makes me feel like I’ve run a marathon. It’s a special kind of feat if I manage to flip through a thick paperback on my own.