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The first time I met my wife, Jill, she told me she wasn’t comfortable with “PDA.” Being a smart aleck, I asked her why she didn’t like personal digital assistants. (The old PalmPilots were known as PDAs.) She flashed the patient smile of someone who knew it would require…

My wife, Jill, and I live in Illinois, where the governor has declared a stay-at-home order for our entire state. It’s been weeks now. He also suggests canceling summer events and has decided that children will not return to school for the remainder of the academic year. We are…

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) has opened a financial assistance program for people in rare disease community who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Called the NORD COVID-19 Critical Relief Program, the effort will provide up to $1,000 annually to those eligible to…

As I walked down the street to get my afternoon coffee one day, it appeared as if everything was normal. Unfortunately, everything was not. I crossed the same streets I normally do, walked past familiar neighborhood shops, and waved to fellow business owners. I ordered my usual coffee and said…

Social distancing seems to be the trend these days. Several reality shows illustrate what I mean: participants practice social distancing and isolation to such an extent that everyone communicates to each other behind walls (in “Love Is Blind“) and computer screens (in “The Circle“). Now, though, this is…

This past Monday night, my boyfriend and I cooked an amazing meatball dish with garlic bread on the side. (No, I will not disclose whether I used premade meatballs and garlic bread.) We paired the dishes with a bottle of sangria we’d bought for taco night this past…

My home has been super quiet for the past several days, a silence that will continue for several more as my wife, Jill, visits our daughter on the East Coast. Jill was supposed to be gone for only four days from Wednesday to Sunday, but her trip was extended when…

When she was little, my daughter, Alexus, visited a 7-Eleven store with my wife, Jill. To reward Alexus’s wonderful report card, Jill said she could choose any treat. Our daughter said she wanted one of those scratch-off lottery tickets. Jill patiently tried to explain that no one ever really…

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, started off like most weekdays for me. Working in consulting, there are always ebbs and flows. Some days I’m extremely busy, other times I’m not. That day was one of the latter. I was having lunch with a co-worker when he…

I can’t stand dogs. They bark a lot. They smell. They require a lot of attention. They tend to whine when I’m on the phone. So, yeah, I can’t stand them. Relax, people! I’m just kidding! I wanted to get your attention for a couple of minutes so you could…