Columns

Editor’s note: After this column was written, Jared and his wife welcomed a healthy baby girl, Melanie Citrine, on Jan. 18. Congratulations! My wife is 38 weeks pregnant. I’ll soon be a father. That fact is becoming more real to me every day. I have many questions: Will I be…

My mighty warrior Caeleb is officially a teenager. His voice is cracking and becoming lower, he eats a lot, and he is growing taller every day. Where did the time go? Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the passage of time; the older I get, the faster time seems…

We are in the middle of January and some of the resolutions we promised to keep just a couple of weeks ago already seem to be fading away. Our intentions were wonderful and our commitment admirable. So what happened to our fortitude? Did something act as a roadblock…

I have been part of the bleeding disorder community for over 20 years. The early days were filled with fear as I learned about hemophilia with my newborn son. Over time, I began to feel a little more comfortable with this rare genetic bleeding disorder. I wanted…

Dear (young) person with disability, I hear you. You’re having a tough time with money. Maybe you’re having difficulty finding a job. You probably have the qualifications — you may have gone to college and had internships here or there — but no company will accept you. You blame it…

Many of us have names that represent legacies and traditions handed down from generations past. My mom named me after my grandfather’s brother who died when he was 11. I often think of him and wonder if I carried on the family name with pride. Would he have been…

I’ve been cleaning up my computer files and finding pictures everywhere except where they are supposed to be stored. One photograph caught me by surprise. My mighty warrior, Caeleb, went to a monster truck rally in 2014. He took a great picture with the driver of the monster…

The Philippines was in an extra festive mood over the Christmas season. Alongside the holiday parties, we were celebrating our country’s Miss Universe contender, Catriona Gray, who took home the crown. As a country, we tend to place high importance on events like this. To us, the Miss…

Last year, I traveled to Chicago and saw the masterpiece “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.” The artist, Georges Seurat, captured a beautiful scene utilizing a technique known as pointillism. Each dot contributes to the complete work of art. To leave anything out is to change…

I often find myself thinking back to the advice my parents gave me over the years. Of course, I considered it “nagging” rather than advice at the time, but the older I get, the more I realize my parents were two of the smartest people I’ve ever known.