What the month of May now means to me
May has always been my favorite month of the year. Here in Maryland, the trees have filled in with lush green leaves, commercial crabbing boats have begun to quietly travel my small creek in…
Thunder Road — Juliet Taylor
Juliet lost her husband, Jeff, to ALS in 2020, 19 months after his diagnosis. Together Jeff and Juliet enjoyed being on the water, live music, pets, and traveling. She was his primary caregiver, and finds meaning and healing in helping individuals and families who are living with or have lost a loved one to ALS. Juliet lives with her rescue pup, Sailor, on the eastern shore of Maryland, in a home that Jeff chose because it reminded him of his beloved Green Lake in Michigan.
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Autumn stirs up vivid memories of my late husband’s ALS diagnosis
Autumn has a very specific feeling where I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Right now, the daylight is getting shorter, the temperature is more brisk, and the lush greens of summer have…
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What friends taught us during life with my husband’s ALS
Making and keeping friends did not come naturally to me in childhood. I was shy, and my introversion and love of books often kept me curled up on the couch reading while…
How being outside improved our emotional health in life with ALS
When my late husband, Jeff, and I were living with his ALS, we were both drawn to spending time outside. While this wasn’t all that different from our life before ALS,…
Running on faith: How embracing a challenge gave me perspective
On a bitterly cold morning in New York last weekend, I woke before the sun and walked through the empty city streets to the Times Square subway station. From there, I caught a train…
Of touchdowns and togetherness: Creating the moments that define us
On a snowy morning three years ago, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, my late husband, Jeff, sped the entire length of the University of Michigan football field in his blue power wheelchair.
After ALS, hospital waiting rooms bring memories, reflection
Today I had a mammogram. We have a family history of certain cancers, so I’m careful to get recommended screenings. After losing my husband, Jeff, to ALS, I feel a bittersweet commitment…
Finding hope, expertise, and compassion — and an ALS clinic
While my late husband, Jeff, was living with ALS, there was a place where we both felt supported and hopeful, his disease understood. Driving through the streets of Baltimore as we wound our…
5 Things I’d Tell My Pre-ALS Self That I Learned From Caregiving
I’ve read dozens, if not more, of the kind of column I’m about to write: first-person narratives that offer advice to one’s younger self, full of lessons learned from difficult life experiences. Before my…
How Fear Can Show Us What’s Important
A few weeks ago, I had a long conversation with a stranger I met while traveling. She was a bold and smart young woman who shared tales of her solo trips as we flew.
When ALS Leads to Dysarthria, a Loved One Offers a Gift
For my late husband, Jeff, and me, the most difficult and saddening aspect of his ALS progression was the loss of his voice. It was heartbreaking for both of us when he…
The Gift of Presence Brought Meaning and Love to Life With ALS
I remember the times before ALS, when after a day away from the house at work or running errands, I’d drive home in anticipation of seeing my late husband Jeff’s blue pickup truck…
How I Learned to Listen to Unspoken Words as We Lived With ALS
My late husband, Jeff, had a motorized scooter that gave us the freedom to move and travel as his ALS progressed during the summer of 2019, our first full summer living with…
