Tweet Patrick was a 19-year-old who didn’t have a friend to call his own. While living with his parents, he enrolled in a local community college, where he met a couple of guys who wanted to hang out. When his parents learned their son was going out for the first time, they were hopeful —
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Tweet I was planted just past the finish line at the 101st Boston Marathon, poised to offer kudos to my other half and his best buddy. They didn’t fit the image of Boston marathoners, lean and quick. They were middle-aged guys who had earned coveted spots on the starting line with dollars raised to support
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Tweet Recent reports of an uptick in domestic violence raise questions about why victims remain in the relationships and whether it is possible to successfully break the cycle. Deborah Lysholm of Apple Valley not only survived an abusive marriage, she went on to build a life filled with passion and purpose after leaving it. A
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Tweet On Feb. 26, Alton Perry was to celebrate his second birthday when he got home from daycare. Despite his mother’s reservations, his grandmother, Debra Denison, insisted on picking up Alton and his baby brother, Ashton, and taking them to their Connecticut home to open his gifts. The grandmother picked them up. But rather than
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Tweet In the 1990s we were women with paychecks.  Each morning, we donned suits, grabbed briefcases and left home to make our marks.  Then the children came. Two career families struggled to find a balance. Some women could not part with the little people who had captured their hearts. Often without planning, some of us
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Tweet Several years ago, I wrote an essay that was published in an anthology of works by mothers of special needs children. “Dancing with Despair” recounted the first 14 years after my son’s autism diagnosis, during which life was overrun by doctor and therapy visits, special diets and behavioral programs. Sleepless nights followed stress-filled days.
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Tweet The slaying of 26 Connecticut children and adults last month ignited passionate debates about how to keep our children safe, as well as how to address the needs of the mentally ill. While many have opinions, few can provide treatment for illnesses that often come into the spotlight under the most horrific scenarios. Yet
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Tweet Cancer and kids are two words that would not appear together in a perfect world.  Yet, sadly, they do, for far too many families. This past week, the Pioneer Press reported on two young people who share the same battle against cancer but will likely have different outcomes. Each has a compelling story from
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Tweet As seen in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on November 30, 2012. If you are reading this column in the comfort of your home or office, chances are that, while there may be things you want, there are no basic life necessities for which you are wanting. The same cannot be said for a
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Tweet As seen in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on November 2, 2012.  Watching the evolution and destruction of Hurricane Sandy from the comfort of my home in drought-stricken Minnesota this past week, I was struck by how random Mother Nature can be. How ironic that as parts of the East Coast were mercilessly soaked
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