Columns

What follows is possibly the most difficult column I’ve ever written.  Since 2020 has a recurring theme of being a never-ending dumpster fire for everyone, I suppose this bit of news was inevitable. A week ago, my family and I said goodbye to my service dog,…

One of my favorite writers, Leo Babauta, is known for his work on mindfulness and simplicity. His blog, “Zen Habits,” is one of few newsletters that I intentionally keep up with. My personal resource database is full of Babauta’s articles — a testament…

For many years, Cure SMA, formerly known as Families of SMA, has organized an annual conference that brings together members of the SMA community from around the globe to learn and connect with each other. Given the current situation, most people were not surprised to…

As I’m sure most of us can attest, the world is a messy place right now. It is impossible to ignore. While I have never experienced anything as unprecedented as these times, I have experienced the messiness of life with SMA. I’m finding myself leaning on past experiences to help…

One month after our baby Jeffrey was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, I met Cindy Schaefer on an SMA message board. Her son, Bionews Services columnist and forums director Kevin Schaefer, was diagnosed with type 2 SMA a couple years before that. During our…

Ella loves the outdoors. As summer begins in our area, the warm weather follows, with shorts and short-sleeved shirts the preferred attire. But spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) presents some challenges for Ella as she plays outdoors. One challenge is getting herself outside. She has two options.

I am officially a baby influencer. I spent the morning tweaking my social media pages. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, ever since I graduated with a master’s degree and found myself with oodles of free time. But this was different. This was purposeful. This was in preparation for…

Ella had a special day last Wednesday. On June 10, she celebrated her 10th birthday. Ella turned double digits on her golden birthday. Naturally, she was excited for the day, but had no idea what was in store.  I got her out of…

I was supposed to be in Disney World right now. I was planning on a week in the happiest place on Earth with some of my favorite people, followed by a comic convention back home. My summers tend to be full of travel and adventures, and this one…

Reader, it’s already June. How is that possible? On one hand, it feels like no time has passed. Part of me is convinced that the green, sun-dappled world outside my window is an illusion — poke it enough and the ice and snow of Minnesota winters…