Past Published Articles

On Sept. 9 after nine years of being in several food therapy programs off and on with no success, my birth daughter McKenna cleared her first major hurdle since being born with food aversion. The first 45 minutes were spent with just she and the therapist from Cook Children's Hospital and then they called the adoptive mom Vicki in so she could see McKenna eat four pieces of cereal and drink some tea. "I cried," wrote Vicki. "So happy." They had been trying a different liquid daily at home '" apple juice, Capri Sun, chocolate milk, flat Sprite; anything McKenna wanted to try plus different broths. She still likes Chicken Noodle best. Vicki writes that McKenna might have somewhat have gotten over her fear of swallowing and hopefully she is on the right track now. "She wanted some Goldfish for dinner and I already packed her lunch for tomorrow with the cereal that she actually swallowed. It's Gerber Graduates Puffed Strawberry/Apple Ce

They enter as potential dropouts, sent by the court to shape up. And 75 percent of them leave as high school graduates. The Nassau Halfway House, opened in 1975, is a combination halfway house/school in Fernandina Beach, FL that provides boys ages 14 to 18 a 90-day stay to learn skills, get educated, and make friends. Approximately 20 students attend the school, wear uniforms, and are taught by two teachers. The House is part of the Nassau County School system which provides funds to educate the boys who come from all over Florida. They learn to build things like rockers and pirate's chests and they learn computer skills while also getting educated about current events. Nassau House teachers are employed by the Nassau County School System and work with the teenagers as grades seven through 12 are represented in one classroom. Shirley Parker, former superintendent and principal of the school in 1990, said the teens emerge as new people by the time they leave. When she wa

When I was nine or ten I remember going to my stepsisters' grandma's house with my stepsisters and my sister a lot and playing this game we only knew as "Tinicula." My stepsisters introduced my sister and I to it and who knows who introduced it to them but we would venture into the backyard where there was tons of bamboo sticks to choose from and, pulling apart a couple of long ones we would commence to play this jump rope game which I only recently found out originates from the Philippines and not Africa like we though and is actually an entire folk dance. You lay two bamboo rods down with one person holding two ends and the other the remaining ones. The third person jumps in and out of the canes as the other two people rap the rods twice on the surface, then bringing the bamboo together while the jumper jumps on the outside of the sticks now, careful not to get their ankles slammed. When you do, it hurts like crazy because you're playing this game barefoot.

Shawntae Chavez had just started high school and was getting ready to play in her first  volleyball game when she died from a deadly game. The game is called The Choking Game but it's also known as Space Monkey, The Pass Out Game, Breath Play or Choke Out and it's one that teens play to get a quick high without using drugs. They hold their breath, choke each other, or squeeze themselves till right before they pass out. More and more they are trying it alone as Shawntae did, using belts, bike chains, ropes; etc and then when the grip of whatever is stopping the blood flow to the brain is released it sends the blood rushing to the brain which produces a high, this euphoria they feel is from the bursting of brain cells and those brain cells are irreplaceable. However, if the person passes out, which takes approximately 13 seconds before whatever is used to stop the blood flow to the brain is released it could result in death from strangulation, which takes approximately 4-7 minu

I've been a fan of Robin Williams since I was 12 when I first saw him on t.v. and his comedy helped me with my depression. And it has ever since. In 1982 I saw him in "The World According to Garp" with my fellow juvenile home residents at a fancy mall. The fact that I was in the kind of place I was living at the time and seeing the movie around the same time frame helped get me out of my depression. I kept up with him through the years and loved watching his comedy acts on t.v., always wanting to see him live on tour. I also love his charitable works and his sensitivity as well as his genuine personality. Then in 1988 my then-boyfriend and I went to see "Good Morning Vietnam" and it became one of my favorites of Robin's. Since then I've seen that movie a few more times and just last night it was on again and I had to leave it on. In the summer of 1989 I saw Robin, five-time Golden Globe winner, in "Dead Poet's Society" and once a

Yesterday, March 6th my 14-year-old cat died who I had had since he was two. He would've been 15 in April. After a two-year medical condition he spent all weekend sick and when I carried him into the sunlight for his last trip to the vet to be put to sleep I talked to him and reminded him of how he loved to lay in the sun. The vet told me what I already knew - Chaplin was dying. Rewind to March 1993. I was given a furry condolence gift after my cat I'd had for five years, Kimba disappeared, never to be found much to my efforts. A co-worker of mine said she had another feline for me, a Tonkenese/Siamese male named Sidney who I renamed Chaplin as in Charlie Chaplin. He was long, black and white, had a tuxedo look and turned out to be quite the clown. He had been living with some other cats but didn't get along with them. My co-worker told me, "He likes beer and salsa but don't give him any!" I remember the night I brought him home and he was so hyper

I can't escape this song, the lullaby that once was an obscure tune and now has been used in commercials, TV. shows, and was my late boyfriend's favorite after he was diagnosed with liver cancer in October. I have only been able to listen to it once since he died this past  New Year's  Eve. It's just too haunting, too sad, too depressing. Yet it seems it's being incorporated into the TV. every time I turn it on and it's been sneaked into a cereal commercial or something. Ruben (my late boyfriend) and I used to listen to the song while holding hands dreaming of a cure for him, talking about the future, hoping. We had planned on going to  Hawaii  for two years before his diagnosis and talked about getting married there one day. Neither of us had ever been there. A young engineer named Milan Bertosa once sat in his recording studio, waiting, according to legend. Honolulu, HI, 2 a.m. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, who at one time sang THE song live - "O

(This is Chapter 2 of Full Moon which was published this week on this site). November 1, 2005 I was in a research study and had told a doctor there about your diagnosis. Without any hesitation she blurted, "Oh, hunny! It's over!" I was shocked at her complete lack of bedside manner. "He quit drinking," I said. "Too late," she chimed in a sing-song way much to my surprise. "How long have you been a doctor?" I finally managed to ask, trying to hide my hurt. "Ten years," she said. I thought to myself, "You need to get a new profession." Another "normal" doctor I spoke to who I've known for a couple of years said that it sounded to him like you were in the late stages of liver cancer and it didn't look good. But he was compassionate and gave me the names of some doctors. I told him about my experience with the other doctor and he couldn't believe it. The kind doctor said, yes, it s

It was a day unlike any other when I got the news. You told me you were going back to the doctor for another test to find out what was wrong with you since they had ruled out  Hepatitis  and Cirrhosis. I'm sitting here at my computer writing an article when the phone rings and my world is changed forever. "Okay, here's the deal," you say bravely. "I've got liver cancer." Inside I can't breathe. It's as if you are drowning suddenly and being pulled under by large waves and I cannot bring you up to the surface no matter how hard I try. On the outside I say, "Okay" then barrage you with a million questions, something you wind up hating during the time you are alive. You tell me what's next and seem incredibly calm, determined to fight this thing, as you tell me, not afraid and optimistic. You're only 51 and we've been dating two years. You've been at your company 19 years and promoted once, now serving as a