A Family Tradition - a Column by Carlos Briceño

vote, white coat syndrome, protective, show, details, unexpected, party on, choose, outside the box Carlos is a journalist in the Midwest, who through the grace of God has been blessed with a brilliant, beautiful, and courageous wife and daughter. His wife found out she was gene-positive for Huntington’s Disease (HD) at the age of 41, while his daughter found out she was gene-positive for HD when she was 22. Carlos’s aim in writing column is to offer a caregiver’s perspective while also trying to inspire those families who are dealing with Huntington’s. He loves to evangelize, read, play soccer, and share — according to family members —really bad puns. (For the record, Carlos thinks his puns are really punny and funderful.)

Sometimes Love Means Letting Go

Two weekends ago, my wife, Jill, and I said goodbye to our daughter, Alexus, son-in-law, René, and their cats as they headed back home to Boston. Because remote work is now common during the pandemic, Alexus and her husband were able to spend December and early January with us…

‘Never Apologize for Showing Feeling’

It’s not often that I see my wife, Jill, cry. She says crying makes her feel worse. As a result, she doesn’t stay sad for long and rarely sheds tears. She’s able to compartmentalize her emotions, and is usually levelheaded and pragmatic when talking about them. When the doctor delivered…

Accepting Huntington’s Means Letting Go of the Wheel

Family has always been important to my wife, Jill. However, she wouldn’t plan many trips due to concerns about travel costs. Jill’s attitude shifted after she tested positive for Huntington’s disease in 2018. She saw every long holiday weekend as an opportunity to visit our loved ones. Because our…

Things I’m Grateful For

I tend to be more grateful these days than I used to be, and to help you understand why, I’ll share a little story. I’ll also list several reasons why I’ve been particularly grateful lately. On Christmas Eve, I had to be at work at 10:30 p.m. to shoot photos…

Even Caregivers Need Help Sometimes

Happy New Year! Now that 2021 is in the rearview mirror, I have a simple wish for 2022: a cure for Huntington’s disease, which my wife and daughter are gene-positive for. As much as I hope for that, I also spend a lot of time thinking about taking…

Mental Videos Make the Memories Come Alive

Years ago, as watching videos on the internet became more popular, I realized I needed to broaden my skills as a print journalist to compete and thrive in a rapidly developing multimedia world. So, I took a course at the Poynter Institute that taught me how to tell a…

Love Is Stronger Than Huntington’s Disease

By the time you read this, an important day in my family’s life will have occurred: Alexus, our only daughter, got married on Nov. 25. She and her now husband, René, met in their senior year of college and have built a beautiful life together since then. They decided to…