As some of you may know, the planet earth passes through a meteor belt every August, giving rise to the Perseid meteor shower. The first time I saw it in 1981, I wasn’t expecting it. I was walking down 57th Street in Chicago’s Hyde Park on my way to a mid-August dinner party and saw…
Sorry, I guess I haven’t talked enough about change. I’m still thinking a lot about coping with change – particularly how Mary Elizabeth’s post-stroke capabilities have been hard for me to accept, but somehow seem to be easier for everybody else to adjust to. I’ve talked about the feelings of loss and mourning that I…
Some schools have great mottos. Yale’s “Lux et Veritas” and Harvard’s “Veritas” spring to mind. What could be better than Truth and Light? My high school’s motto, Labore et Virtue, was equally impressive. The University of Chicago, my alma mater, has a clunkier one: “Crescat Scientia Vita Excolatur” which trippingly translates into “Let knowledge grow…
Mary Elizabeth has a few big “To-Do’s” on her list and one is to go swimming. We usually go to the beach several times a summer, and have generous friends with pools who entertain us frequently. However, given Mary Elizabeth’s stability issues with walking, I’ve been hesitant to let her attempt swimming. It’s not so…
Several years ago, Mary Elizabeth used to write a newsletter column for the Nassau County Mothers of Twins Club, of which she was an active member before her stroke. The column was called, “When Does It Get Easier?” and included a few paragraphs on our own experiences with a particular aspect of raising our twins,…
I’ve been writing in recent weeks on how much our lives have changed as a result of Mary Elizabeth’s stroke, and how challenging it can be at times to embrace a future that we weren’t expecting, without pining too much for the past. I went to a support group a few months ago, composed mainly…
In the past few months, I’ve gradually come to understand that an equal part of Mary Elizabeth’s recovery is not only how she’s changed since the stroke, but how I’ve changed and how we’ve all changed. At the same time, I’ve noticed some reconstitution in our base of friends – with some becoming more involved…
When I was growing up, there was a Finast supermarket around the corner and a D’Agostino’s across the street. Starting at about 9 years old – for a variety of reasons – I would do a lot of grocery shopping by myself. That was in the late 60s and the cash registers were still old-fashioned…
Apologies for such a long gap between posts. Here’s what’s been up with Mary Elizabeth. She recently started a program at CW Post’s Speech and Communication department which consists of a variety of group and one-on-one sessions – all geared towards increasing the fluidity of her speech and providing a much-needed opportunity for socialization and…
Well, it’s been exactly one year since we arrived back in New York from London. I remember that day like it was yesterday – every detail from showing up at Royal London Hospital at 5:00am to pick up Mary Elizabeth on the way to Heathrow to our arrival at Columbia Presbyterian later that day –…
Moved in Sundry Places 