When Sophie was just a few months old, my family doctor told me something that’s never left my mind: “When your kids are little, you worry about them playing in the street and getting hit by a teenager driving a car. And then they become teenagers, and you worry they’re…

This piece is part of The Pain Diaries series. “Take the medicine. Don’t be a hero.” How many times have we heard this phrase? The implied message being that physical pain is something that should not be accepted. It’s unwanted, unpleasant, and should be disposed of and treated at all…

This piece is part of The Pain Diaries series. My earliest memory of pain is a headache. But not the pain of the headache. It’s the St. Joseph baby aspirin with the toy soldier on the box. Mom said my headaches started in kindergarten. At the young age of five…

An Introduction This summer, I hit a point in my marathon training where I had a sharp pain on the outside of my left knee. At one point, the pain was so sharp that I couldn’t get beyond three miles and I panicked. How can I run 26 miles if I can’t…

“Have you gone on any dates? Are you seeing anyone? Have you tried meeting people?” These are the questions I’m asked more frequently than not. “I’m just not in a place where I want that right now. And I don’t like dating apps,” I reply. “But that’s how it’s done…

Growing up, my dad liked to play the “What if?” game. In an attempt to get at the root cause of whatever mood was irking at me on a particular day, dad played amateur psychologist with those two words. “What if your friend responded differently to what you said? ……

Sometimes, I’ll read a piece of writing that hits me on a visceral level. I know this because I won’t even be finished with the piece and I’ve found myself pulling my hand away from my mouth to realize I’ve just bitten down my nails. …

When you’re going through a divorce, there are a series of steps you have to take. First step, file the documents with the county clerk’s office. Second step, attend mediation or hire an attorney. Third step, eventually divide up the household goods and bank accounts. …

Not long after my ex-husband and I filed for divorce, I was sharing the news of the end of my marriage with a friend. She was married and a mother as well, and knew me and my husband as a couple for the time we lived in Indiana. “I don’t…