Columns

When I began daydreaming about the kind of house my husband, Randy, and I would someday own, my vision included a big covered porch with a swing, a roomy yard with lots of trees, and a white picket fence. Gloria, our realtor in Fort Worth, Texas, had…

Our local school district just announced that hybrid learning will start at the end of October. We can choose to participate or continue staying at home and engaging in e-learning. If we chose the hybrid learning model, our kids would go to school for…

As my 27th birthday approaches later this month, I recognize that this year will be vastly different from past celebrations. With the current global health crisis, many of us SMAers are spending a lot of time in isolation. Though I’m able to go to certain outdoor restaurants with…

Let me set the scene. It’s 9 a.m. I’ve been awake since 6. My poor, sweet dad has been up since 5:30. We’ve been preparing for this gut punch of a medical appointment for weeks, but even so, neither of us are particularly thrilled with our lives right now.

Come, sit beside me at my campfire.  How about some apple cider or hot cocoa on this crisp autumn night? It’ll warm your bones. Help yourself to a s’more. I haven’t yet figured out a pumpkin spice recipe, but my maple version is some kind of dynamite. Would you…

A blue sky peered out from behind white, fluffy clouds. Rays of sunlight followed. The air was crisp and cool, and the trees had started to change colors, expressing the coming of fall. Our family had plans to meet my daughter Ella’s cousins at a…

My 3-year-old niece Lily sat next to me, absorbed in the pages of her “Frozen” coloring book. On my right, my dad also was busy coloring an elaborate picture for her and her baby brother. Back when Lily was born, my parents converted…

Every once in a while, I get the urge to go to the hospital. I’m not sick. I’m not concerned for my health. But there’s something about hospital stays that, when the stars align, can be incredibly restorative. I recognize this is my privilege talking. For many marginalized folks, hospital…

“So, what’s your silver lining?” a friend asked me one night in late spring. My parents and I had recently decided to go forth and allow outdoor visits again, as long as our guests followed social distancing and mask-wearing rules. He was the first visitor I had in months. I…

My teaching career started at Brockman School in Columbia, South Carolina. Nestled in the corner of a quiet neighborhood resembling a forest, Brockman was a self-contained school for children ages 3-21 with orthopedic and multiple handicapping conditions. My assignment was the kindergarten class. Several other…