aspiration

“What if Todd had aspirated while you were on your spring break trip?” someone asked me. That’s the type of question I’ve asked myself many times over the last decade since my husband, Todd, was diagnosed with ALS. What risks are we willing to take to…

“Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home. … When my life is almost gone, Hear my cry, hear my call, Hold my hand lest I fall.” Although I fall light-years shy of the realm of gospel music aficionado, certain songs of that genre move me like no selection from…

“How am I supposed to drive when I can’t see anything?” my nearly 16-year-old daughter asked. Sara and I were logging night-driving hours, which are required before she can take the second segment of driver’s education in January. She already has 12 hours behind the wheel, mostly during the day,…

I inspected the fish through the curved glass of a refrigerated display case. Wild-caught Lake Superior whitefish and trout — both raw and smoked — lay in metal trays. “I’d like that piece of smoked trout in the middle. Underneath the top one,” I specified. I picked a plump…

Swallowing. It’s such a simple thing to do! We’re born with the ability to swallow; it happens automatically, and the average person does it approximately 600 times a day. I mean, who actually thinks about swallowing? Well, I do, now that I’ve joined the nearly 80…