Columns

I remember the emptiness I felt the first September after graduating from college. I’d been a student for 16 of my 21 years at that time, and the void of not going back to school at the end of summer was disconcerting. For some years after that, I quietly regarded…

I keep playing a new song by Bon Iver. Once my husband, Todd, who has ALS, is set up on his computer after breakfast, I turn my attention to household chores until he needs my help again. My new find, “There’s a Rhythmn” [sic], has a reflective,…

When my doctor told me that I had ALS, my reaction was like that of most newly diagnosed ALS patients. I felt a jumble of emotions and desperately wanted to let my friends and family know — but something held me back. Deep down I knew that when I…

My husband, Todd, and I work New York Times puzzles while we eat breakfast. Because Todd is paralyzed due to ALS, I feed him. We start with the Spelling Bee puzzle, which offers seven letters for you to make words with. There is always at least one word that…

Fire the flare guns, turn on the ship-to-shore radio, and holler “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” That’s the first order of business for a ship that’s sinking. It needs attention — lots of attention. There’s even an official mayday relay procedure, which lets ships in the vicinity take turns relaying the distress…

Lately I’ve seen people on my social media feed dumping ice water over their heads to promote awareness of mental health, which took me back in time to the ALS ice bucket challenge in 2014. That viral sensation may have been the most effective tool for raising awareness…

The other day when I sat down at my computer, I discovered a small, beige envelope that had been left near my workspace. To my surprise, inside was a letter addressed to me from the rollator that helps me live with ALS. After a quick read of the note,…

Sometime in my mid-40s, I wrote a list of goals I wanted to achieve before turning 50. I no longer have the list, but I remember a few things on it: Learn a second language. Complete one half-marathon each year. And my then-favorite, visit 50 countries by the time I…

Signs of spring appear every day outside my kitchen window here in northern Michigan, even as my own life feels heavy with my care for my husband, Todd, who has ALS. After a long winter, our 2 feet of snow, which was in the field behind our house a…

Some days, my motivation just gets stuck. Even though I’ve got interesting plans and projects to do, I can’t get started on any of them. The reasons why can include not getting enough hours of sleep the night before, being caught up in the latest news cycle, or simply reflecting…