Columns

“I’m broke, but I’m happy I’m poor, but I’m kind I’m short, but I’m healthy, yeah!” — Alanis Morissette Well, maybe not that last one. Inspired by recent columns by my colleagues relating “Stand By Me” to Friedreich’s ataxia and “West Side Story” to cystic…

This week marks my one-year anniversary as a columnist for Sarcoidosis News. I once read that we tend to underestimate how much our lives can change in a decade, but overestimate the potential change in a year. With all due respect, that person hasn’t seen my life! There…

Life interrupted! The other night I fell out of bed. I’d been dreaming I was having drinks with my brother, and while we were talking, someone stepped over the bar and started to walk on me. My immediate reaction was to kick this person, which I did. I kicked so…

Before I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, I’d never heard of this disease. No one I knew had heard of it, either, except, as my mom insists, in the differential diagnosis on the TV procedural “House, M.D.” Even then, it was never the answer. No one actually had sarcoidosis.

I recently read that social media basically captures our best fake day. I found that comment extremely funny, then quite sad. If I were to clean up that comment, I’d say something like, “Social media sometimes captures our best fake day, if we let it.” Because for me, and most…

My birthday was three days ago, which was three days after the first day of summer. Growing up, the last day of school often fell on my birthday. My final report card determined if my day would be happy or crappy. As I got older, my birthday became a time…

When the 2022 NFL schedule was released last month, I noticed an Aug. 27 preseason game between the Washington Commanders and the Baltimore Ravens. While I live in New York (and have adopted a few teams to cheer for), those are the teams from the areas where I grew up.

Every year around this time, between Father’s Day and my June 24 birthday, I feel a little disconnected and withdrawn. I was raised by a single mom who served as my mother and father, so maybe I’m missing her more than usual. We used to celebrate my grandfather and my…

People sometimes say their cars are an extension of their personality: sporty, sexy, rugged, classy, adventurous — any of the descriptors used in commercials. I take that idea a bit further. A true extension of my personality, my car is a little ridiculous and a lot of fun, and she…

For the past few days, I’ve been trying to figure out when I started to feel incomplete. I don’t mean that I feel useless, but at what point did I start feeling inadequate to accomplish anything? It may sound a bit sketchy, but there is a relationship between sarcoidosis…