Columns

In June 2016, I packed up my home in Texas, my three children, and my entire life, and moved 752 miles away to Colorado in search of hope. Hope that we could delay putting my youngest daughter, Austen, on another serious anti-epileptic drug to treat her worsening seizures, caused by…

Our lives are changing, and this time, it isn’t due to the effects of Dravet syndrome. I have mostly been a stay-at-home mom for the last 11 years. I have a degree in elementary education, but when we had our second child, Atlas, who is now 7, I figured I…

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. An entire day dedicated to food? That’s right up my alley. Usually, we stay home in Colorado to cook and relax as a nuclear family, and our day is sprinkled with phone calls from family in Texas to wish us well…

After 20 months, the kids are returning to school. One of them, anyway. Originally, we were going to wait until all three kids had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before we allowed any of them to return to school. But Addi, 13, has…

I’m the only person on my block who has their Christmas tree up, and I have zero shame about that. Usually, it goes up on Nov. 1, but this year, I managed to wait until the 4th to get my decorations out. The reason is that I hate November, a…

Twenty months. That’s how long it’s been since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. and I withdrew my kids from school. I was terrified for all three of them, but especially my daughter Austen, 6, who has Dravet syndrome. Fewer children have been sick with COVID-19 than adults, and…

Austen, my 6-year-old daughter with Dravet syndrome, went to the neurologist at the end of September. It was the first time we’ve seen her in the office since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The appointment went smoothly, and Austen barely cried during her lab work. We were so excited when…

Earlier this summer, my husband and I wrestled with the decision about whether to continue home schooling our kids for another year or send them back to regular school. It was a hard decision, but ultimately, we decided to home-school them again because the number of COVID-19 cases…

“Mom, how is rain made?” It was a simple question posed by the sweet, 3-year-old voice coming from the back seat of the car. This was a decade ago, and the question came from my oldest daughter, Addisen, who is now 13. She has always been curious about the big…

My daughter Austen’s first seizure was one of the worst nights of my life. She is 6 years old now, and has been diagnosed with Dravet syndrome for five. My heart still pounds and my hands become sweaty just thinking of that first night holding my baby as I…