I recently watched a documentary on Amazon Prime Video called: Happy. It featured real-life stories of people around the world who, despite their circumstances, live happy lives. Something about the ideas presented in the show lingered in my thoughts for days. If happiness depends on our lives being simple and…

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 front…

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…

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 fund…

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…

When we write about ourselves, we lay the pieces of our human heart onto the page.  Our secrets, our heartaches, our shame, and our triumphs become a language of their own. A soul-speak. When I decided to tell the story of Andrew and Frightful, I knew this story was bigger…

Every kid is That kid: Your special someone who’s unique. Still, parents and authors Kristin Jarvis Adams and Nancy Schatz Alton know what it’s like when you have the kid that all the other kids (and parents) wonder about. What’s it like to raise a child with autism who has a life-threatening…

My son dreams of becoming a chef. Spatulas, tongs, measuring cups, a tabletop deep fryer, and a dozen boxes of red velvet cake mix line his bookshelves like an honor guard of mismatched soldiers. His desk is a library of notebooks filled with recipes he gleaned while watching hundreds of…