The holidays are upon us. In our house, Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving. The house gets decorated, winter candles are lit, and Christmas music fills the rooms. The kids are old enough to help decorate. The dogs even have Christmas bandanas around their necks. Our…
Five Servings of Strength
— Michael Casten
Michael is married and a father of three, one being a child with SMA Type II (born in June, 2011). He is an educator who has worked directly with children and their families since 1994. He loves his family, writing, working with his hands, and taking road trips. Michael holds a bachelor’s in psychology (1994) and a master’s in education (2001).
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Ella, 10, the youngest of our three children, is thriving. She has friends from school, in the neighborhood, and online. She sings in a community choir, and occasionally plays with her siblings. Due to Ella’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy type 2, which directly affects her respiratory…
Life can be full of disappointments. They are opportunities for children to learn how to handle them, think about them, and react to them. Ella rolled into the Young Naperville Singers rehearsal full of excitement and anxiety. The week before, she had auditioned for…
Ella has been singing with the Young Naperville Singers (YNS) for a few months now. Her singing voice continues to improve as she gains confidence. She sings around the house, while getting dressed, and in the shower. The kids at YNS have been practicing…
I’ve been working with elementary school kids for 19 years. Every fall, I catch a cold, but the illness is usually short-lived. However, the Casten household isn’t so fortunate. Two weeks ago, my wife, Lindsay, caught a cold, and she’s still fighting it as I write…
The winds howled and the blustery snow started falling early in the day. It was an unusual sight for the last day of October — Halloween. The city was quickly covered in a blanket of wet snow. Driving became slow and methodical, motorists keeping their distance from the…
There are three Casten kids: Ava (12), Henry (11), and Ella (9). They each need our attention, and will ask for it periodically. Our life is quite crazy. Lindsay is still recovering from the amputation of her lower right leg and is facing a complete…
The Casten household has a tight budget. I have been a teacher for 19 years, and Lindsay is the director of children’s ministries at our church. We are a family of five — plus two dogs and a bunny! Years ago, I began using a program…
The school was bustling as children and adults exchanged greetings while rushing about. Parent-teacher conferences were underway. I arrived at the school with Ella and Henry, 30 minutes early for the first of two meetings. While we waited, we spent time at the book fair…
We picked up our modified van from our local Honda dealership. The mechanics replaced parts from the door’s mechanism, but it still doesn’t work properly. The company that carried out the original modifications needs to look at it. Right now, we are no better off than before.
Ella is the youngest of the three Casten children. Ava, her sister, is 12, and Henry, her brother, is 10. Ella, who turned 9 in June, comes right behind Henry. My wife, Lindsay, and I planned it that way so that they would share common interests…
We rolled up to the emergency room for the second time this month. The first time, Ella had broken her left foot. Now we were there for the other foot. This particular afternoon, Ella had been playing with her brother, Henry, and his friends. She…
Music helps us to express our feelings, dreams, and aspirations. Ella has been to several Young Naperville Singers rehearsals and is loving it more and more. She can’t wait to get there and doesn’t want to leave when the session is over. One evening, my…
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