Columns

Looking forward to getting a flu shot is something I never thought possible. But at this point in what has been a very strange year, it’s a darned good excuse to get out and do something. In past years, I followed health guidelines and always waited until early October…

In his book “Out of Solitude,” Henri Nouwen writes, “When we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch…

Just like Lionel Barrymore as James Temple in “Key Largo“ and Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan Taylor in “Forrest Gump,” I survived a hurricane wheelchair-bound. Unlike the original works that those two movies are derived from, my hurricane…

Recently, I noticed I was having problems keeping track of time. Not clock time, as in being a little early or showing up too late. But calendar time — the past weeks and months of living in lockdown have caused my days to morph together. I knew I was doing…

“That’s the one project I wish I could have finished,” my husband, Todd, said while looking out a window at Comet’s doghouse. He had expressed similar sentiment on other occasions over the last few years. After Todd was diagnosed with ALS, we sold our house in southeastern Wisconsin and built…

Last week, I ended this column with a tongue-in-cheek inference that in deference to an improbable ALS curse befalling me, I would not share two near-disaster experiences anytime soon. This week, I am reneging on that prediction with the following disclaimer:…

What a long, crazy summer it’s been, as we’re living with minimal social interaction and long periods of isolation. Parts of our lives have changed without our consent, and we have to be on the lookout for developing symptoms. And those are just the challenges of living with ALS…

Years before my husband was diagnosed with ALS, I coordinated a tutoring program in Milwaukee. Many of the children and teens I worked with lived with stress and instability in their homes and neighborhoods. For some kids, just consistently showing up to school and the tutoring program was an accomplishment…

“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, You don’t spit into the wind, You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, And you don’t mess around with Jim.” Based on recent events, I might add…

Weeks after my husband’s ALS diagnosis, we were still in shock, but we mustered ourselves for a family outing on my 33rd birthday. We planned the day around our baby’s nap schedule. With only one weak arm, my husband, Todd, drove me, our 4-year-old daughter, and 11-month-old son to the…