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.)
I am standing at the end of the beauty aisle at our local grocery store. I’m watching my wife, Jill, look at boxes of press-on nails — again. I think back to when she was my girlfriend, back to when she was someone who said she didn’t have any hobbies,…
Aretha Franklin sang about it. Rodney Dangerfield joked about it by saying he never got any. The Boston Red Sox got it after finally winning the World Series again in 2004. The “it” I’m referring to, of course, is respect. A recent trip to the airport by…
Do you recall the Apollo 11 mission that took place July 16-24, 1969? My wife, Jill, likes to remind me that she remembers reading about it in a history book. This summer, we will mark the 50th anniversary of the first humans landing on the moon. That may not…
My daughter recently graduated from college. As the date approached, my wife, Jill, and I grew increasingly excited. Jill became more focused on all the things that we needed to do. Jill is a planner, so she starts out by making lists. These lists are then accompanied by yellow…
When something attacks you, having a good defense to thwart the attack is an invaluable tool in staying alive. In some ways, because they both have been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, my wife, Jill, and our daughter are under attack. This disease aims to attack their minds and bodies,…
“In sickness and in health, until death do us part.” These words, which were part of our marriage vows, are a somber reminder of our mortality. But who wants to think about sickness and death on the happiest day of your life? In this column, I want to focus on…
Learning how to balance life as a caregiver and husband can be delicate. I recently mentioned that my wife, Jill, and I attended a symposium for Huntington’s disease earlier this year. I learned some valuable information that day, including that Jill may one day experience changes in the way…
I am a writer, and as such, I like to think of people as books. Either you are an open book or a closed one. Let me explain. My wife, Jill, and I have so many things in common that sometimes I forget that we don’t have a few things…
While talking about family illnesses with friends recently, I sat back and watched people discussing cancer, dementia, and myriad other life-altering conditions. Everyone had a story to tell about taking care of someone with an illness or experiencing it themselves. I noticed that, after each person shared, the group moved…
My sense of time has shifted. Part of this change is age-related: I will be 55 this year. When I was younger, I thought about what the future might bring. My dreams seemed so far away then, causing me to feel impatient at times. I am less rushed these days.
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