Columns

While many holiday traditions were on hold at the end of last year, one tradition remained in our house: the annual Santa Letter. It started over 20 years ago, when our boys were young. Every year, they would find a letter carefully hidden in the Christmas tree, and then…

The sun was bright and the sky was clear, but my windows were filthy. So, given that information, you might be able to draw the logical conclusion that the sun’s radiating, healing rays were distorted. In their place, a tinge of brown was cast against the sky.  From my…

Every New Year’s Eve, I stay awake until the stroke of midnight. It is a tradition of mine. I use this moment every year to be thankful for the good things that happened in the year, and to set a contract with myself for next year’s goals. This year, while…

According to Boom! cosmetics, founded by the late Cindy Joseph, a science link is said to exist between feeling good inside and having beautiful skin on the outside. Psychodermatology, for example, studies the relationship between the mind and the skin, and a correlation seems to exist between…

The morning is crisp and the ground is frozen by the brutal Michigan winter temperatures. I pile my belongings into the back of my Subaru as I prepare to say my goodbyes, again. In 2020, I spent nearly three months here, the most time I had been at…

I received an email yesterday from my mother-in-law. It had been forwarded to her from a friend of hers. It was missing the attachment, so I don’t know what the email said apart from the five words found in the subject line. They read: “Why I wear two masks.” It…

This holiday season plucked discordant strings of loneliness for me, which resonated off-key because of an overlap with exacerbating Parkinson’s symptoms. We tried the family video chat. Maybe we are too old-fashioned, but the experience left us feeling empty and even lonelier. Mrs. Dr. C had a slight advantage with…

Ever since I can remember, I have loved to write short stories, articles, poems, novels, essays, and more. I entered some of my writing into contests, won a few (mostly in the short stories category), and received a few awards. As a young teenager, I asked my grandmother to read…

I never realized the benefits of music until I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Early in my diagnosis, I met Alexander Pantelyat, MD, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine, who introduced me to both music and dance. Together with boxing and other exercises,…

“What?” I ask from across the room, closing the distance between my dad and me. I don’t want to ask him to repeat himself again. “Can you grab me a glass of water and my pills?” Dad raises his voice, and this time I hear him. I fill a mug…