Columns

This depression had been in me for years, covered over by anxiety and anger about the logistics of caring for and educating my son, and the election had been the…

These last few months, we thought we had a chance. While Rowan’s heart has been enlarging, tissue has also been gathering around the hole, increasing the possibility that it might…

Physics tells us that Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, and my son run the 50-meter at the same speed when the dimension of time is taken into account. Neck…

There’s a reason we don’t talk directly about death. There’s a reason we codify our rituals and create a language of loss: Because when we stand in the face of…

On paper, James looks terrible. He can’t see a whole lot, he has shaking all over his body that makes simple tasks impossible, he has hearing loss, and his speech…

You wait until Kindergarten. You hold out hope that his heart will heal until the hope is gone and one hole remains. The blood stretches out his heart, enlarging the…

My son James is 11 and has multiple disabilities—he is motor impaired (wears leg braces up to his knees), fine motor impaired (has trouble holding a pencil and can’t use…

These stories are easy, and they’re fun. Dancing, twirling—Spirit dusts every scene with unicorn sparkles, and Rowan listens with glossy eyes. Spirit makes sense to him because he loves magical…

When I look back to when I first became a mother, I see myself enmeshed in a tangle of emotions. Wonder. Fear. A love so intense it left me feeling…

I just want this to be over. I want it to be six months from now. I want my son playing with stickers that weren’t just ripped off his chest,…

This is where we are now—telling Rowan the stories that will help him make it to the other side of the hospital bed. These stories are not easy. This column,…