A Family Tradition - a Column by Carlos Briceño

My wife, Jill, has has been watching a lot of “lawtube” videos on YouTube lately. She likes tracking court-related cases as a way to slow the decline from Huntington’s disease (HD). The cases, and anything relating to legal issues, hold her attention. It’s part of her growing bag of…

I thought I understood the highs and lows that come with Huntington’s disease, including the unfiltered comments and raw emotions my wife, Jill, sometimes shares with me. I have seen her frustration, her dark humor, and her moments of deep sadness. But nothing prepared me for what it feels…

Huntington’s disease has changed so much about our life, especially for my wife, Jill. Her balance isn’t what it used to be, and falls are a real concern. In a house where stability is fragile, a small creature racing around our feet sounds like the last thing we should invite…

Turn on the news, and it’s easy to witness a jet stream of anger swirling around the main headlines in our world today: wars, spikes in the cost of living, political campaigns, and more. In observing the various levels of displeasure these headlines provoke, I started to wonder, why do…

My wife, Jill, and I recently visited the retail store Party City to pick out decorations for her mother’s 80th birthday. Jill held up a glittery banner and asked if it was too much. I joked that nothing could ever be too much for our family. Jill smiled and agreed.

It was just a glimpse, really. A few seconds on the road. My wife, Jill, who is gene positive with Huntington’s disease, and I were driving home several months ago when we passed a car pulled over on the shoulder, its hazard lights blinking. A police officer stood beside…

In life with Huntington’s disease (HD), our family’s calendar fills up quickly. There are checkups, follow‑ups, and scans that land on days you would rather spend at the park or at a movie. Maybe that’s why, when a birthday shows up on the calendar, our family treats it like…

My wife, Jill, who is gene-positive with Huntington’s disease (HD), shared a serious issue she’s been struggling with lately: “I hate showers, and if I hate them now, how will I push through the uncomfortableness when several HD symptoms make it too difficult?” she said. This was not the…

Mothers are often told that, once they have a child, their heart now lives outside their body. For years, that line sounded like something stitched on a pillow you buy at a Hallmark store and then feel guilty about never dusting. For my wife, Jill, it stopped being a cliche…

The first time my wife, Jill, almost cried in front of me, Huntington’s disease (HD) was already part of our story, just not the headline yet. It was there in the background, like a low drumbeat under all the usual early-relationship excitement: new love, big plans,…