Columns

Growing up in Texas meant Friday night football games. It’s a religion there. As a girl in elementary school, I’d go with my family to games — not so much to watch football as to see the halftime show. But I found myself enamored with the cheerleaders. They were athletic…

My husband, Jared, had a knee bleed last week. The moment he felt the familiar twinge in his joint, he performed his usual treatment regimen: a factor infusion and bed rest. We thought we’d simply wait it out without doing anything special besides resting the injury…

I have von Willebrand disease (VWD) and hemophilia B, a less common form of hemophilia that arises when a blood-clotting protein called factor IX is missing or deficient. Hemophilia is often thought of as a condition that only affects men, but women can and do have it, too.

Last week, I wrote about the bond I formed immediately with my oldest son, Julian. Caeleb, my youngest son, recently reminded me of the unique bond he and I share. Toward the end of her third trimester, my wife, Cazandra, started to experience complications, so her medical team admitted…

Apologies aren’t easy. Sometimes when hurtful words are shared, an apology is in order. Likewise, a mistake that affects another person is also a time when an apology is needed. But why do people apologize when something is out of their control? My youngest son, Caeleb, is 16 and lives…

My husband, Jared, gets a lot of bruises. Not because he gets into brawls a lot, and most certainly not because we fight (although we like to troll people with these possibilities just for fun — dark humor, we know). His quick bruising is because he has severe…

Hurricane Ian, which battered the southeastern United States and the Caribbean in late September and early October, nearly destroyed the home of a client of mine. She compares the damage to a violent tornado combined with a devastating flood. Parts of her home were gutted. In the aftermath, she…

From the time my wife found out she was pregnant, we celebrated a ritual each evening until the birth of my oldest son, Julian. Before we kissed good night, I put my face to her belly and sang the song “For Baby (For Bobbie)” to him. Without seeing…

Weeds. They’re inevitable. In the desert of New Mexico, where we live, fighting weeds after an active monsoon season means pulling them from xeriscape yards. The yard rocks make it difficult to eradicate weeds. It’s a tireless task to complete in the desert heat, especially when that active monsoon…

Hemophilia is a lifelong condition, both for my husband, Jared, and me. He’s had hemophilia B since he was born, and until a cure is found, it’s here to stay. While I don’t have hemophilia, we both must live with it. I imagine hemophilia to be like a…