The Christmas spirit eluded me in 1997. Our baby Jeffrey, diagnosed with SMA that summer, had snagged his wings that November. Needing to find something positive, I focused on why I should be thankful. Jeffrey was in heaven, free from the ravages of SMA. I knew…
As I write this column, 2022 is almost complete in the book of memories. I must admit that with two surgeries this year, many memories from the year aren’t my favorites. Truthfully, 2022 is ending on a wonderful high note for me, but that’s a story for another time.
Winter in Singapore isn’t like winter in many other countries. Not much changes in terms of the weather. It might be cooler on days when the Fates are kind, but for the most part, conditions stay hot and humid. We don’t get glittering blankets of snowfall or sheets of ice,…
I could tell it was going to be a bad day. I woke up to an overdraft notice from my bank, which is never a good sign. Then I realized something was wrong with my phone. I’d updated it the day before, but hadn’t used it since then, so the…
Last month, I sat at the kitchen table intently wrapping a birthday present as the sunlight began to fade. My home health nurse sat beside me in the dwindling light, with a piece of tape on her extended finger for when I would need it. “I wish…
I once knocked over our Christmas tree when I was 3 years old. To this day, I’m not proud of it, and frankly, I’m still a little traumatized by it. I was simply trying to get a good view out the bay window to see our neighbor’s…
My parents used to joke that I should’ve been born an American. As a kid, I loved burgers and fries, I was enamored with Disney movies and country music, and I spoke “proper” English better than anyone else in my family. That’s not to say I didn’t love it here…
The other day, my friends and I were talking about our mantras for the upcoming year. I usually start thinking about mine sometime in December, so this conversation was par for the course — something about the darkest month of the year makes me yearn for the optimism of…
I listened to 78,978 minutes of music and podcasts in 2022. Thanks to the popular feature Spotify Wrapped, I and millions of users can look at a summary of our listening habits each year, for better or worse. Some may find my avid consumption of pop albums and…
This year has been unprecedentedly good in terms of media. From season four of “Stranger Things” to the delightfully campy “Our Flag Means Death,” I’ve had no shortage of things to binge. But the highlight has undoubtedly been the renewed interest in “Star Wars.” It started with the six-episode limited…