The Mermaid Chronic(les)
— Kala Godin

It’s a normal day. Well, mostly a normal day. My parents come into my room at about 4 a.m. to tell my sister and I that they love us and that they’re heading out. They have a three-hour drive to the airport,…

My parents recently went on a trip and left me to fend for myself. I’m kidding. My sister was with me. We’re perfectly capable of fending for ourselves and survived purely on junk food, takeout, sugar — and caffeine. (Just kidding, Mom.)…

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…

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…

I previously wrote a column about body modifications and how my favorite kind is tattoos. When I think about it, I’ve been in to get tattooed every year since graduating high school. Well, every year except for this one —…

We see a lot of articles addressing SMA and dating, or dating when an individual is in a wheelchair.  I’ve had little to no experience in dating. I had a boyfriend when I was in middle school,…

We’ve finally had some decent weather. It has been rainy lately, which I thoroughly enjoy because I’m allergic (literally, not figuratively) to the burning orb in the sky that is the sun — both my skin and eyes react.

It is July, the seventh month of 2019, and I am ready for this entire year to be done. I’m not joking. Something drastic and stressful has happened every month so far. Not with me — I’m fine — but…

It’s summertime, and that means holidays, road trips, camping, and hotels. Also, sunburns, mosquitoes, and probably dehydration. I’m kidding about the dehydration. My mom makes sure that I drink more water than she does.  I’m mostly content to…

I have to start preparing for the plastic apocalypse. Yes, I may just have to start hoarding plastic bendy straws and forks. And also hopefully never get caught with them. (She says to the entire internet.) Or ever run out. I get…

My life is full of medical appointments, and they all tend to be fairly inconvenient. Necessary, but inconvenient. I can’t attend them on my own because, well, I can’t drive or take care of myself. So, my mom ends…

SMA comes with a lot of challenges. The progression of the disease is the worst — at least, in my experience. About a year to 18 months ago, I finally had to accept the fact that I just couldn’t drive my…