Family
A Long Road to Graduation
When I first met my little brother, he wasn’t yet two pounds, he was covered in wires, and he couldn’t breathe without help. Then little by little, day after day, over thirty years, he figured it out. And today, I…
When She Talks About Peace
Most of us understand silence. We know what it means to find a quiet place, away from the roads and the crowds and the noise. We know how important it is to our peace of mind and our sense of…
Pondering in Boulder Field
Amidst the dips and cracks where people often slip between stones, a visit to Boulder Field also means being able to wander into the chilly, Pennsylvania distance, far from the major roads and byways, far from the noise and the…
Absolutely Everything
Last year, Melissa woke up on her birthday, on our vacation in tears, in pain, in frustration over sounds beyond her control. Everything inside of her was screaming, pulsing, raging, in a battle against the worst stages of pulsatile tinnitus.…
The Marker of Adulthood
Last night, we sat in rocking chairs, wrapped ourselves in blankets, and listened, through quiet whispers and glancing smiles, to the movements of every creature around us in the chilly mountain air. We marked the first hour of our anniversary…
Close Game. Closer Family.
For most of my childhood, football wasn’t a thing. Not really. And to be fair, I didn’t find any sport to be all that interesting. Up to the age of 14, I was an only child. If anything, my father…
I Married Up
On our last night in Massachusetts, after strolling through Boston in the frigid air, we cleaned ourselves up and sat down to a warm, classy dinner on the harbor. I looked across the table at this beautiful, smiling, playful, and…
Searching for Silence
This year, Thanksgiving was a benchmark, a goal, a time for evaluating Melissa’s health. And while I have, on occasion, asked for the prayers of family and friends, I have never actually explained what happened, not to anyone other than…
Lighthouses on Martha’s Vineyard
For the first time in our marriage that I can remember, we took a trip without a plan. For most of the year, Melissa’s health has been the priority and this trip, to Martha’s Vineyard, was a test to see…
Love in Reverse
Physically and emotionally, this has been a tough year for my wife, and by extension, for me as well. Maybe the toughest on record. Certainly more tears than either of us planned to lose at the turn of January. We’re…
