There is something that is just so spectacular about the beginners mind…starting something fresh with nothing but potential in front of you. I love looking at Esmé in this way, as a trembling and hopeful collection of potential. She doesn’t speak…yet. She doesn’t walk…yet. All things are still becoming. It is also one of the … Read More
Mystery Monster
Ezzy is an almost constant source of mysteries–medical and otherwise. Since she is still functionally non-verbal it can be a real challenge to try to understand what she wants or needs–particularly if she is rather upset. Over the last few weeks Esmé has been under the weather. She has been looking exhausted all of the … Read More
She’s all better now, right?
Obviously I am pretty open on this blog about life with Esmé. If you read regularly I think it is pretty fair to say that you have a good idea of what I am like in real life…except here I can edit myself better (yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking). On some level, since … Read More
Back to school
The other night I attended a networking event at my former highschool–Emma Willard School. A friend of mine was speaking, and I thought it might be fun to head over for a bit. I haven’t visited many times since I graduated in 2000, and I haven’t always been the best at keeping up with my … Read More
The Red Store (aka Target)
One of the remarkable things about Esmé is that she has a tendancy to command whatever location she is in. When she walks around our neighborhood people stop to say “Hi Esmé! How are you?” No visit to her pediatrician’s office is complete without a greeting from everyone there. Folks know her at the grocery … Read More
Tilting at windmills
I was just now driving down the road behind a large furniture delivery truck. As we slowed down to stop for a red light I became aware of a man on the sidewalk next to the truck tugging hard on a leash. I couldn’t see the dog on the other end of the leash at … Read More
What is in a name?
Like many disorders, the disorder Esmé shares with an ever-increasing number of people has gone through several naming iterations. Each one expresses a number of policies and trends in naming diseases. Each one gives different information about the disorder: its discovery, its sympotoms, its mutation location. And each has downsides. One might be non-descript, another … Read More
On the tip of my tongue
The is another one of those posts I have been working on for awhile…possibly, in some ways, for years. I have full-post length versions that will certainly never see the light of day. It must be that I write them for myself somehow, trying to find ways to say all of this without sounding like … Read More
Falling Down
Lately I have been having to watch Ezzy fall down a lot. She is just so very determined to explore the world from a vertical position that she constantly insists on pulling up to stand on low surfaces. Her favorite spot now is the low table below the television. It seems like any moment my … Read More
Chicken and Esmé
There is a new love story developing in my house. It is all about Esmé and our cat Chicken. At 13, Chicken is chronologically a pretty old man these days. He was always sort of a grumpy guy, even as a kitten. So when Esmé arrived I assumed he would spend his time as far … Read More