Stories Told. Lives Changed.
The following post, “How to Cross a Threshold” was originally published on March 18, 2018. This piece was also published in “Generations”, a quarterly publication that explores ataxia research and promotes ataxia awareness. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of […]
~ To my friend, who had the courage to make a change Her change caught everyone by surprise. They thought things were fine. She seemed so happy, so go-lucky. “I’m so surprised,” they said. What they couldn’t see was that deep inside her heart stewed a restlessness that, on certain days, breached the kettle lip […]
If you’ve been keeping up this blog you probably know I started Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy a few weeks ago. VRT is a form of therapy that uses exercise to improve gaze (eye movement) and gait (walking/movement). My vestibular disorders, which are a result of cerebellar atrophy, vertigo (dizziness) and nystagmus ( involuntary rapid eye movement) […]
The Man with the Hole in His Brain- Chapter 2 It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred […]
Hours before my daughter’s 10th birthday I committed murder. Call me heartless, call me a bastard but since I don’t own a gun or crossbow–I did it with a hammer. Trust me, I didn’t want to do it. But, as life teaches, sometimes you have to do things you never thought you would do. I […]
This week’s publication is dedicated to my friend and fellow writer Deb Dauer, who recently passed away from complications caused by ALS. Although my time with Deb was brief, she taught me to live, to write with courage and spirit and that true happiness can only be found in the connections you make. Thank you […]
They were still bagging up bodies at Stoneman Douglas High School when my 9 year old daughter told me her plan. “We would hide in the closet.” “Really? That’s all?” “Yes, teacher told us that if there is an intruder we are to hide in the closet and stay quiet.” I didn’t tell her that […]
The following post is the first entry of the The February Project: Love and Marriage, a self-imposed month long writing project on love and marriage. “After all the romance and celestial promises of the initial courtship, love becomes a lifetime of small moments that add up to make something enormous.” from Taking Notes: A Love Story […]
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.–Cicero Recently, while cleaning out the garage, while rummaging through stacks of dusty boxes I came across a brown, unmarked envelope. Intrigued, I quit rummaging, opened the envelope door and found my grandfather smiling on the other side. Inside the envelope it’s 1954 […]
It’s 2005 and I’m sitting at the kitchen table leafing through The Philadelphia Inquirer. Mom is at the stove whipping eggs. The coffee percolates and the TV weather man urges us to keep the umbrellas handy. Mom whirls around, offers me a plate of bacon and eggs and tussles my hair. I’m 25 and in a few weeks […]