epiphany / iᴵpif ǝ ni/ n. pl – nies 1. a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something 2. an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking. A shining forth Aha! In the summer writing classes I teach at a local university, I [...]
A few years ago I wrote a story about a dog we owned named, Digger. The piece was for a local publication which every August ran a special “Dog Days of Summer” edition printing favorite pet stories submitted by their readers (you can read it here, if you’re interested). The story was, originally-enough, titled “Digger”, [...]
Take diabetes, for instance. In many ways, raising a dog is a lot like controlling blood sugars, minus of course the extreme health risk. You study the science. You learn the technique. You get up every day determined to do your best and when things go the way you had planned you celebrate. You applaud [...]
What a bind I feel in these days; yet also prepared, illuminated, and forewarned. The problem, in fact, may be that I know too much, which don’t get me wrong, in this case that’s a good thing. For instance, I know how much time caring for a child with diabetes requires of a parent. The [...]
It was a common yet unproductive habit in the days, weeks and months following Lia’s diagnosis to do as any worried parent might do and question every external encounter or genetic mutation in our family history in pursuit of where had this come from. Often it wasn’t a very long thought, really more of a [...]
We submitted our application to the JDRF Children’s Congress early last week and in so doing took one more potential step from the shadows of obscurity into the spotlight that is the ardent voice of advocacy and awareness. Our story. Our faces. Our family. There are two things that stand out about this. One, it [...]
Back now to the daily opus of attention paid Lia’s diabetes. Her wellness of course is always on our minds and as such our strategy in treating the disease is simple: be open to anything that will multiply our opportunities to know it, treat it, and deal with it better emotionally, mentally, and physically. So [...]
In some parts they call it catting. In others, it’s hogging or stumping or dogging. If it is trout, not catfish, you are after, it is considered art, not a sport, and known to practitioners as tickling. However, those of, shall we say, a bit more extreme-minded personality, prefer something a bit ornerier as their [...]
When you first learn that a child of yours has diabetes, if there is no family history of diabetes or the root of it is not otherwise obvious, and it rarely is, the parent will do not only whatever they can to make life with diabetes better for the child but they may also work [...]
Nighttime sometimes is the hardest. You wake, you think of her. Maybe you get up and check her blood, or just feel her shoulder and listen for breathing as you might a newborn. A slight nudge perhaps if you’ve caught her in a long mid-breath. Maybe you lie there in bed thinking and wondering and [...]