At my first parent teacher conference of my son’s third-grade year, the special education teacher shuffled papers around her desk for thirty seconds too long. Nervous sweat pricked at my skin and I feared nothing but more problems.“I think we should find something to highlight Andrew’s skills in ... Read More >>
What Brings Us Comfort
I’ve spent nearly two decades watching my son be comforted by a series of feathered raptors that live in our backyard. His coop full of noisy hens is his sanctuary, the place he feels most understood. I find comfort in silence. A quiet house, a long walk in the woods, or strolling along my favorite ... Read More >>
Finding Your Own Frightful: CONTEST
Share your story with me! I want to know about a time when you relied on someone or something that became your touchstone during a difficult period in your life. Did you have an invisible friend as a child? An animal whom you loved more than anything else? An old smelly blanket your mother refused ... Read More >>
Mommy Sabbatical
I have been to Seattle Children’s Hospital so many times with my son that I’ve become weirdly numb to the routine. I watch, detached, as families walk through the doors seeking answers to impossible questions or treatments for an illness that seems to have no name.I’ve been there. I’ve done ... Read More >>
Caring for Today’s Children of Tomorrow
Each year, two remarkable guilds combine efforts to host the Seattle Festival of Trees at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle. This year, the Dr. Forrest Flashman Guild celebrated their 40th year of fundraising for uncompensated care. At the same time, the Autism Center Guild raised money to help ... Read More >>
Are you a chicken lover?
My friend, Michelle, became a convert 5 years ago after watching my son play in the yard with a chicken slung under each arm. She’d been wary of these modern day raptors since childhood while she watched her grandmother chase them around the backyard for Sunday night dinner.But as she watched my ... Read More >>
Who do you want to be?
I was told these words taped to my bathroom wall came from a letter exchanged between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his daughter, Scottie. I don’t know if this is true, but they are sound pieces of advice.These beautiful nuggets of wisdom remind me to claim all the definitions I want to be known by. ... Read More >>