Columns

It started the fall of my daughter’s sixth-grade year in school. While I had listened to DJ Elliot Segal of the radio talk show “Elliot in the Morning” for nearly 20 years by then, I’d done so mostly solo. My husband found no value in the show, and I…

Before having children, my definition of a season of life did not contain color. Everything appeared black and white. If there was a medical issue, it lasted for a little while and soon passed. Nothing remained for long. The most significant medical problem I faced was when I broke my…

Many people see spring as the season for cleaning. Winter months call for homes to be closed tightly to keep the heat in and the winter chill out. Spring allows for the opening of windows to clean the soot and grime that accumulates over the colder season. I normally do…

People are suffering. The country is divided. States are imposing limits on items that may be purchased, and businesses are closed. If there were ever a year to skip Thanksgiving, this would be it. At least, that is what some people think, but I am not one of them. It…

I visited a hemophilia treatment center for the first time in the 1980s, to have my factor levels tested. The phlebotomist couldn’t find a vein, and I was distraught. Workers ended up pinning me down to get my blood. The result was that my factor…

Lately I’ve been feeling stuck. My life seems to have taken on the appearance of an infinite to-do list. The moment I tick off a box, three more appear. Every day, I am literally out of breath running errand after errand, with the ultimate goal of somehow staying afloat. Bills…

Long a food literature devotee, I continually marvel at the seeming effortlessness with which authors, home chefs, and Michelin triple stars approach the kitchen. Their sense of matter-of-fact wonder at gathering simple or impossible-to-find (except in a French market) ingredients simultaneously fills me with awe and consternation. How did these…

Let’s face it. This year contains one struggle after another. We continue to ask the same questions: “How do we beat this virus? Will I continue to be insured during layoffs? How will I afford quality care for my loved one in the middle of political, medical, and economic turmoil?”…

Exhaustion, stress, loneliness, and boredom are a few symptoms of living in our current world. Some people easily adapt to new ways of moving in the world, and others have a more difficult time. What is amazing is how the rare disease/disorder community seems to move forward without skipping a…

When my husband, Jared, and I were dating, many of our friends thought we had the perfect relationship. We were snuggly best buddies, intimate and passionate lovers, and mentors to each other. It was a bond I could only describe as spiritual and otherworldly. I had never met anyone who…