Our new puppy, a 14 year old in human years actually, is home for good now that service dog training with Geoff down at NEADS in Princeton, MA is over. Last weekend was a tease; he came home on a 48 hour furlough and then had to leave again. But he is here– or wherever… Continue reading Puppy Love
(Photo credit: Ken Mack) This has been a rough week for snowmakers of the Northeast. To say the least. The very least. With temperatures hovering around freezing, the precipitation is indecisive, switching back and forth between being a solid and a liquid. Flood warnings in January for 12-24 hours are also never a good… Continue reading Ode to Our Snowmakers: Those Here on Earth and in Heaven
January brings with her unparalleled frigid temperatures along with some weird skin hives on Geoff’s legs caused by the unruly cold; yet she also brings New Year’s resolutions, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and, every four years, the eager anticipation of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. We set new goals for ourselves or we don’t;… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Blog, January 22, 2018: “January Dreaming”
Dear Emerson Gronk Snowy Krill, Given your world class service dog status, I’m sure you also read, but if not, I’ll explain when you arrive. Your new dad, my husband Geoff, is on his way today to begin training with you as a pair at NEADS in Princeton, MA. He is really excited for you… Continue reading Dear Emerson Gronk Snowy Krill,
Since I started writing a blog a little over two years ago, this is the longest amount of time I’ve gone without publishing. It’s not that I didn’t have ideas I wanted to write down; I did, but they felt mundane and unlikely to attract many readers. Then I got a cold and blew… Continue reading Understanding Choice, Risk, and Courage: Especially in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Snow is a challenge in the winter time where we live in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We know folks in wheelchairs around these parts who struggle leaving their own homes in the winter time. Depending on one’s wheelchair, size of wheels, depth of snow, dependability on the plow, etc, snow can be enemy… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Blog, Jan. 3, 2018: How We Roll in Winter
There once was a boy named Peter who left our school when his mom moved his family to Maine. Here only a short time, he impacted our staff and school community in ways he will never be able to understand even if we could explain it to him in person. I’ve changed his name along… Continue reading Thinking of Peter Pan and Johnny Cash
I’ve never dragged a human body into the woods, but I can imagine the work involved. After all, each year I dissemble the Christmas tree, and we say a little prayer of thanks over his branches before returning him to the woods where he came from. This year, however, I had to drag him… Continue reading Christmas Carcass
As a teacher, I remind myself how difficult the holiday season can be for families who are struggling with different hardships. Christmas does not always equate with tradition or joy; family or gifts; mistletoe or egg nog; for some, including those with and without physical or cognitive disabilities, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Eve… Continue reading Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Blog, December 19, 2017: Looking Ahead to 2018
Dear Mrs. Claus, When I was a little girl, I would stay awake in my Holly Hobby bed for as long as I could on Christmas Eve imagining, picturing, willing my ears to hear Santa’s sleigh bells on the roof of my little house. Back then, it was Santa I needed to believe in–… Continue reading It’s You, Mrs. Claus, We Need to Believe In Too
Heather Ehrman Krill: The "Write" Kind of Coach 