The first day of fourth grade was wonderful for Ella. She woke up early and I got her dressed and ready to go. Along with her brother and sister, Ella posed for the annual first-day-of-school photo before leaving. Henry, 10, Ella, 9, and Ava, 12. (Photo by…
Columns
Three days from now, on Aug. 23, I will be doing my first book signing. As I previously have mentioned, my first book, “Witchcraft and Monsters,” was published in January. I now have this amazing opportunity to see what a book signing is like. My…
It was my last semester of college, and I had room for one more writing class in my schedule. I already had two film courses, a literature survey, a fiction-writing workshop, and a general education requirement I had put off until the last minute. (You could say that…
In case you’re wondering, the miraculous acne medication, Accutane (isotretinoin), is as fun as it sounds. Accutane is a six-month program, which means I have three months left. The medication is definitely…
Being sick tends to take a lot out of people with SMA, and the healing process is often slow. A few days after returning from a family vacation this year, I started to feel ill. My heart rate was quickly rising and I had a slight…
“Raise your hand if your return to reality has been a struggle.” That was the text I received moments after being set up on my phone to write this column. I had to chuckle. My best friend was referring to the weekend we had just spent at the coast…
If our daughter, Katie, had arrived on her due date, I’d be writing about her birthday instead of her decision to hold off a few days — eight, to be precise, but who’s counting? I’ll tell you who was counting back then — I was. I was…
The back of our accessible van was loaded with luggage. We set the trip odometer to zero and zoomed off to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was a nine-hour drive and the kids did a great job of being patient. One of our church friends gifted us…
We have a number of pets, including a small, aging Chihuahua and a few cats. They’re adorable and we love them a lot. The cats follow my younger sister around pretty much wherever she goes, including the bathroom, or they meow and yell on…
I’ve been an active member of the SMA community for years, but one of my fondest memories from any SMA conference took place last year in Dallas, Texas. As I chatted with my friend Doug, another friend’s 5-year-old daughter joined our conversation. Her…
