I’m writing this (and publishing it, if I manage to finish it quickly enough) while on a plane bound for Victoria, BC. It’s been six years since I last visited the city in which I was born and grew up. The long separation hasn’t been by choice; until now, my health’s made the trip unfeasible. … Continue reading Go West, Young Wheelchair
By this time last year, I was in my usual full-on, over-the-top Christmas mode. My apartment had been garishly decorated for weeks, my cards had been written and put in the mail, and my Spotify algorithm had figured out that all I listened to was Christmas music and thus suggested nothing else. I had a … Continue reading Having Myself a Merry(ish) Little Christmas
My husband and I woke up early last Thursday morning, puttered around the apartment, and took a cab to the airport. Several smooth hours later, we landed in Boston. Next was a drive to New Hampshire, where we visited friends for the weekend, going to Maine both Saturday and Sunday. Monday we spent in Boston; … Continue reading On the Road Again (Again)
Every six months or so, I decide to put more effort into managing and maintaining certain aspects of my appearance. Self-care of the physical sort, if you will. I have a wobbly track record in this department. It's not that I don't want to care about what I look like. I do—want to care, that … Continue reading Self-Caring
While out doing my thing, minding my own business, I field countless intrusive questions and inappropriate comments from strangers, most of them well-meaning but also misguided. Although many of these encounters leave me annoyed and, often, a little amused, I usually manage to brush them off and move on in short order. I'd rather not … Continue reading Whoa
I'm taking a quick pause from a perfectly low-key holiday Monday to write a short post because it's Thanksgiving in Canada, and it would feel wrong to let it pass without doing the obvious. It isn't hard to come up with a whole list of things I'm thankful for this year. Family, friends. My many, … Continue reading All the Thanks
I've never had strong feelings about getting older. The inexplicable workings of my mind make my age tick up as of January 1, so by the time my birthday rolls around, I've already had ten months to get used to a new number. (It just occurred to me that my brain is only in sync … Continue reading A Happy Birthday
To know me is to know that I’m pretty vocally anti-hug. Well, not anti-hug, exactly: more like pro-choice, touch-wise. If I offer you a hug, it’s because I genuinely want one. If I don’t, or if I politely but firmly decline an embrace, it’s not personal. This is my thing, not yours. I instinctively shudder … Continue reading Touched
Well, it’s here. At approximately 1:13 PM last Thursday afternoon, my new power chair rolled into my apartment and forever changed my life. This might seem a gross exaggeration, but if you saw the smile that foolishly flashes across my face at the mere thought of my partner in mobility, you’d know that I'm not … Continue reading My Other Significant Other
Last Tuesday, I was working on a forthcoming post while on the subway en route to a foot-Botox appointment. It was my second time-consuming-but-boring obligation of the afternoon, and the day had been otherwise busy, leaving me with little time to write or do other things I find more fulfilling and rewarding than running errands … Continue reading Reverse Aging? (Bye, Botox!)
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 