“Do you want to say prayers tonight?” I sit next to Micah on the edge of his royal blue not-nearly-long-enough bed and take his hand in mine. Our black lab mix, Midnight, stares at me with her big brown eyes as she rests her head on the pillow next to him. The sight of them …
“Make sure you check your blood sugar before going on stage,” I told Micah as I pulled next to the curb closest to the performing arts wing of his high school. The sun was just peaking above the horizon at 7:00 a.m., the hour the theater director had called his cast and crew. This morning …
“Mom, I’m 55 with an arrow straight down. I already had a juice.” I listened to Micah’s voice, as I stood in our sunny kitchen miles from where he was at school. His urgency and anxiety seemed to transfer into my own body. (Note: Micah’s optimal blood sugar range is between 80mg/dL and 130mg/dL). It …
I’m sitting, laptop open upon my knees, on a splintery reddish-brown step off the deck of our lake cabin. The man who was scheduled to stain it earlier this summer never came. We’ll wait until next spring, Todd tells me. Now, in mid-August, the flaking, fading wood has gotten worse. Today, it feels like fall …
It is a beautiful evening at Bluestem Center for the Arts, a lush expansive riverside acreage in Moorhead, MN that is home to Trollwood Performing Arts School. It’s also where Micah has spent most of his days this summer. A few months ago, I’d enrolled him in a few acting classes at Trollwood Academy. Today …
Occasionally, I am asked this question: “Were you aware of Micah’s special needs when you adopted him?” “No, we weren’t,” I’ll say. “It was a gradual knowing. He was delayed in his development, didn’t speak until almost four years old. We received his first diagnosis when he was three: PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified). …
I’m in the balcony of a large sports complex looking over a green railing. Down below, amidst the energy and positivity created by the upbeat music and many volunteers, athletes are getting ready for the first event. This is the second day of Able Games 2023, a functional fitness competition for athletes of all abilities, …
I sit at our long wood dining table drinking steaming coffee from my favorite pink-with-flowers mug. It’s a frigid January morning, but I am energized by the natural light that fills our home. A health insurance website is open on my laptop; I search to find Micah’s information–the coverage on his CGM and insulin pump–but …
I will always remember the first time I laid eyes on Micah. I entered the NICU through large glass doors. Jody, the adoption counselor, explained he was here as a precautionary measure due to swallowing some amniotic fluid during birth. His oxygen levels had to be monitored for a few days. I hadn’t taken more …
A tall skinny Christmas tree stands in front of black-trimmed floor to ceiling windows in our sunroom. I stand in front of it removing ornaments from the artificial branches. The windows, which cover three of the room’s four walls, separate me from the sea of snow that covers last summer’s lush green grass, long bluish-green …