Juliet lost her husband, Jeff, to ALS in 2020, 19 months after his diagnosis. Together Jeff and Juliet enjoyed being on the water, live music, pets, and traveling. She was his primary caregiver, and finds meaning and healing in helping individuals and families who are living with or have lost a loved one to ALS. Juliet lives with her rescue pup, Sailor, on the eastern shore of Maryland, in a home that Jeff chose because it reminded him of his beloved Green Lake in Michigan.
When I look back at photos from when my late husband, Jeff, was living with ALS — something I do often to find inspiration for this column — I’m struck by how many of our happier memories…
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On a bitterly cold morning in New York last weekend, I woke before the sun and walked through the empty city streets to the Times Square subway station. From there, I caught a train to Brooklyn, the starting line…
On a snowy morning three years ago, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, my late husband, Jeff, sped the entire length of the University of Michigan football field in his blue power wheelchair. Light snow was falling as…
Today I had a mammogram. We have a family history of certain cancers, so I’m careful to get recommended screenings. After losing my husband, Jeff, to ALS, I feel a bittersweet commitment to taking care of myself…
While my late husband, Jeff, was living with ALS, there was a place where we both felt supported and hopeful, his disease understood. Driving through the streets of Baltimore as we wound our way toward the Johns…
I’ve read dozens, if not more, of the kind of column I’m about to write: first-person narratives that offer advice to one’s younger self, full of lessons learned from difficult life experiences. Before my late husband, Jeff, was…
A few weeks ago, I had a long conversation with a stranger I met while traveling. She was a bold and smart young woman who shared tales of her solo trips as we flew. She insightfully concluded that travel…
For my late husband, Jeff, and me, the most difficult and saddening aspect of his ALS progression was the loss of his voice. It was heartbreaking for both of us when he lost the ability to speak,…
I remember the times before ALS, when after a day away from the house at work or running errands, I’d drive home in anticipation of seeing my late husband Jeff’s blue pickup truck in the driveway. Jeff and…
My late husband, Jeff, had a motorized scooter that gave us the freedom to move and travel as his ALS progressed during the summer of 2019, our first full summer living with the condition. The scooter was…
When my late husband, Jeff, was diagnosed with ALS in October 2018, I remember the early, seemingly insurmountable feelings of fear and bewilderment. I remember understanding that we were out of our depth in a completely foreign world…
I’m writing this column on a tough and emotional day — the anniversary of the 2018 ALS diagnosis for my late husband, Jeff. For the day I might have planned, I’d be hiking up Old Rag…
ALS is notoriously relentless on the human body. But it can be equally brutal on our emotions, and for my late husband and me, this was especially true when he was diagnosed. When people ask about the process…
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