Columns

I walked with our dog, Comet, on a trail in the woods behind our house. The woods felt cool out of the hot sun. Light filtered through the trees overhead as I breathed in the rich smell of summer earth and pine. A ruffed grouse crossed our path, and…

My husband, Todd, and I sat on the patio on a perfect summer day in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was in the 70s and sunny, with a brisk wind that kept the mosquitoes and biting flies away. We looked out beyond our backyard to a field that had been a…

I’m always on the lookout for examples of how other people successfully handle life’s big and little speed bumps. Because I need all the inspiration I can get, especially since my biggest speed bump is living with ALS. Little ALS bumps happen almost every day, constantly testing my resilience.

I’m writing this column from vacation in a place I once traveled with my late husband, Jeff, long before he was diagnosed with ALS in 2018. It was a dream trip of his, and we went together for his birthday more than a decade ago. On this trip, we…

A couple months ago, I planted zinnia and strawflower seeds in two plastic bins and set them in the sunlight under our patio window in my dining room. I’ve grown vegetables from seeds in the past, but never flowers. Vegetables feel practical because food is necessary to sustain life, while…

I’ve recently started meeting with a therapist through telehealth to try to better cope with life as my husband’s caregiver. Todd is homebound now, so we have been more isolated, which is hard on my mental health. It’s stressful to always be on duty, ready to move an arm,…

Earlier this month, I played host to a two-week online event in the ALS News Today Forums: “Funny Moments: Finding Humor in ALS.” I was anxious about it and wondered if members would even bother to participate. Boy, was I wrong. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s…

Last summer, a large limb on our old mountain ash died, and this spring, our teenage son cut it off, leaving only one limb coming out of the stump of a once beautiful tree. “Is it time to take it down?” I asked my husband, Todd. “I think so,” he…

My husband, Todd, and I just finished watching the TV series “Person of Interest,” about a type of super artificial intelligence (AI) that predicts crime. The series, which ran from 2011 to 2016, was prescient about current issues resulting from AI and mass surveillance. In the penultimate episode, one of…

I am always looking for ways to simplify my life and help my days go by a bit more smoothly. But when you live with ALS, like I do, there is always one extra thing to do, plan, or think about before you can even begin an activity. It’s…