Joyful Sorrow – a Column by Kristin Neva

August 20, 2020August 17, 2020

Taking Care of Unfinished Business

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

“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 ... Read more

August 13, 2020August 11, 2020

Just Showing Up Is an Accomplishment

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

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 ... Read more

August 6, 2020August 3, 2020

Train Your Eyes to Find the Light

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

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 ... Read more

July 30, 2020July 27, 2020

Snapshots of Life With ALS

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

“Thank God I didn’t have to cough this weekend,” my husband, Todd, said after his parents left. They had been visiting us from Minnesota. A couple months ago, his ... Read more

July 23, 2020July 21, 2020

Searching for a New Map

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

“I keep pulling it out — the old map of my inner path,” Joyce Rupp writes in her poem “Old Maps No Longer Work.” I was introduced to Rupp’s ... Read more

July 16, 2020July 13, 2020

Expanding World, Shrinking World

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

When I was a child, my elderly great-aunt Martha joined my family every Christmas Eve to participate in gift opening. I felt bad that she only got one present ... Read more

July 9, 2020July 7, 2020

Making Mental Notes While He’s Still Here

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

After our second child was born — back when my husband, Todd, had an undiagnosed weak left arm — we purchased a used minivan. We found the van on ... Read more

July 2, 2020June 29, 2020

Learning How to Help from 5 Phone Calls

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

Nine months after my husband, Todd, was diagnosed with ALS, he entered a social media contest with a $100,000 grand prize to use to fulfill a dream. Contestants with ... Read more

June 25, 2020June 22, 2020

An Old Dog Teaches Me New Tricks

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

I found a walking buddy, and he’s teaching me how to live with my husband’s ALS. When my gym closed, I turned to cross-country skiing every day. When the ... Read more

June 18, 2020June 16, 2020

Hanging Up the Keys and Other Tough Decisions

Columns, Joyful Sorrow - a Column by Kristin Neva

I thought my husband, Todd, should quit driving long before he was ready to hang up the keys. When ALS had weakened his left arm and right hand, he ... Read more