Columns

“I can’t believe we found this,” I said to my friend Jennifer, holding the manila folder against my lap. “Do you think we should open it?” The sun shone brightly this spring day in 2010, but neither Jen nor I could see it. We were working…

Others. Community. Support. Help. Cheerleaders. These are the words that have been flooding my thoughts over the last couple of weeks. If you consider my writings, the podcast that I co-host, or the documentary film in…

This past weekend, I stepped back in time and visited my alma mater, Johnson & Wales University. I made the trip to attend the Providence Alumni Reunion Weekend with my husband, Justin. The event was in Providence, Rhode Island, about five hours away from our home in Philadelphia.

Editor’s note: Please be advised that the topic of suicide is addressed in this column. Resources for help are listed at the end of the column. *** Despite all of the challenges in my way, I choose to fight, to endure. I hope you do, too.

I love productivity. I have a strong disdain for being passive, or slow to move. If something needs to be done, I like to get after it quickly. There is certainly nothing wrong with moments of rest and relaxing activities. I enjoy a good movie…

“I can tell that you are really strong and that you can take it,” she said. “So I’m going to tell you like it is.” This is the first thing a Friedreich’s ataxia parent said to me when we first met. She had lost her son to FA a…

Living in a major city like Philadelphia, my go-to mode of transportation is the subway or the bus. My husband, Justin, has a car he parks close to our apartment to have available when needed. But if I am on my own or need to get somewhere close, I…

My eyes shot open in the middle of a pleasant dream. The scene was familiar: There was a pool, perhaps a beach? But the dream vanished shortly after I woke up. The light showing through the windows of the hotel room in Denton, Texas,…

I met up with my best friend for lunch last week, and he noticed I was in a bit of a funk. I could feel I was a little off myself, but I couldn’t put my finger on the root of my disconnect. As my friend and I…

When I was in college, my goal was to work in professional sports in marketing or sales. Before I graduated, I worked in ticket sales for the Phoenix Suns basketball team and loved the path my career was taking. I had my foot in the door at the NBA…

As a mom, I am obviously around kids all the time. But not just my own. I am around kids when I take my children to school, T-ball, church, play dates, restaurants with playgrounds, etc. I encounter countless kids each week. As an FA patient dependent on a mobility…

On the long drive home from rideATAXIA Dallas, I asked the driver, my buddy Ryan, for his overall takeaway from our weekend trip. “I feel like I understand you and your life a little better,” he managed to say before we drove into a rainstorm and…