An Unexpected Journey - a Column by David Riley

If you’re unfamiliar with Fanny Crosby, allow me to introduce you to one of the greatest poets America has known. After singing one of her great hymns one Sunday as I worshiped at my local church, I later recollected the words and recognized their affinity to this column,…

Activity is a basic physiological need of all living things. For humans, it goes right alongside food, water, and air. And for people like me, who are living with Friedrich’s ataxia (FA), that activity must take the form of intentional exercise. Time out of the day must be…

I’ve come across the following succinct statement: “I have FA, but FA doesn’t have me.” Since I’m a columnist for Bionews, the publisher of this site, I thought I should do some research to find the origin of the pointed phrase, but to no avail. I’m left to suppose…

It’s better late than never, but I finally figured it out — or rather, at last I admitted to myself that a certain pursuit was a complete waste, something that was draining and devaluing my personhood. And this time there would be no compromise: Social media was a dead end…

After nearly a week of learning to use my new wheelchair, it was time to venture out in public. Why, you may wonder, did I hesitate? And why dramatize such a trivial thing with such foreboding language? When the chair arrived, and after I was finally able to sit in…

Across a little wooden bridge, with the creek underneath and the manufactured habitat surrounding and running alongside, was the home of three small, gray foxes. One of them ran with the others under the bridge, onto the quiet meadow, and through the trees, distinguishable only by its three legs. I…

“What do you wish to achieve in this life?” my friend Tony asked. I sat down for a moment to rest. It was a loaded question, one I hadn’t been asked in years. I had just earned my graduate degree in biblical studies, and at 29 years old, I imagined…

After I transferred from my scooter onto the desk chair, I swiveled to face the tablet screen, pausing a moment to regain my balance and composure. I carefully grasped the tool in my hand, securing it in my fingers and placing it on the blank page. “Now watch this!” I…

“It used to be that when I fell, I’d get right back up as if nothing had happened,” I said. I relished evenings like this. A peer and I were enjoying the cool fall breeze on his back porch and savoring the fellowship with a few drinks as we offered…