Every time we leave my parents' house, it happens. We’re driving home in the dark; my children are laughing in the back seat. I'm trying to remain strong and act somewhat normal, but the sadness…intensifies as the anger feverishly boils deep inside of me. My thoughts silently race in 20 different directions as I try to make sense of my feelings, but I can’t. So I cry. It’s been nine years since my mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. You’d think that, by now, time would have healed some of… >> Read More
We have the luxury, or the hindrance, of having one of the best children’s hospitals within an hour’s drive. The good news is that we have some of the best doctors in the world that are able to…work with our 6-year-old daughter. The bad news is that everyone else in the world wants to work with those doctors, too. When we are told by our doctors that our little girl—diagnosed at age 5 with Aicardi Goutières Syndrome, which causes her brain to atrophy—needs to be seen again in three months, but that they… >> Read More
Academic success was always of the utmost importance in my youth, and the pinnacle I was heading for was earning a degree in medicine or law. It seems like it’s a Jewish mother’s dream to…announce that her child is either a doctor or lawyer (or is marrying one of the two). As a youngster, I didn’t care if I had to get tutors over the summer or come in an hour early or stay late to meet with my teacher for extra help. I wanted to be the best.… >> Read More
On a recent weekend, my family of five drove 17 hours to pick up my childhood bedroom furniture from my mother’s house. It has been sitting in pristine condition for over 30 years, in the same…exact room I slept in from the age of three. Now, my three-year-old twins are newly potty trained, so they have earned the freedom to use the facilities at all hours. This means we can no longer keep them in their baby cages (ahem, cribs). And as it goes with multiples, you need to buy… >> Read More
We recently received the “call.” My daughter’s new kindergarten teacher called to introduce herself and schedule a time to meet our family. The teacher could not have been lovelier. She could…not be more nurturing, caring, or calming. With every raised concern, she assured me that I was already doing everything as a parent to prepare my daughter for her entrance into elementary school. When we hung up the phone, however, my husband easily transitioned to checking emails, while I sat for over an hour questioning.… >> Read More
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