A Life in Letters — Jamie Hughes

I have a co-worker who can meet someone and 10 minutes later know their life’s story. Heck, she even bonded with a woman who rear-ended her in traffic the other day. I admire this skill and strive…

I don’t normally go in for trends. For example, I don’t own a single pair of skinny jeans. I’ve never tried a Unicorn Frappuccino. I’m not on Instagram or Snapchat. I didn’t participate in the Ice Bucket…

Like millions of other fans, I happily plunked down $13 to launch “Wonder Woman” into blockbuster status on its opening weekend. In fact, I was so excited that I purchased dress-up kits for my gal pal,…

Multiple sclerosis has a way of messing with one’s head. Whether it’s emotional or psychiatric disorders, fatigue, brain fog, or physical problems, there’s a lot to wrestle with. And to effectively battle this disease requires you…

Pull up a chair, kiddos, and I’ll tell you a sad story. Because we’re both musicians, my husband and I love going to concerts together. We’re on a budget, so we have to be choosy about who…

Like one third of America, I’m a cat lover. I’ve had kitties in my house since I was a child, often in sets. Currently, I’m the proud parent of two fur babies—Ivan (the tabby) and Baker…

Last week, I celebrated by 39th birthday. Yes, 39. That’s one year shy of the big 4-0. The last year of my 30s. If life was a rollercoaster ride, I’m about six clicks from the apex; the…

T.S. Eliot’s opens his masterwork The Waste Land with four stunning lines of verse: April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing  Memory and desire, stirring  Dull roots…

Thirteen years ago, a neurologist sat on the edge of my hospital bed and told me, “You have MS. It’s not the end of the world. There’s more on the internet than I could ever tell you…

March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. That means we need to make the most of these four weeks to raise some money for research, and raise awareness about the disease and the 2.5 million people…

When people ask me what I love, I usually respond, “God, my family, and St. Louis Cardinals baseball … in that order.” Other than the Razorbacks, Arkansas (my home state) doesn’t have much in the way of…

Last week, I attended the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to meet many fine folks who are hard at work creating everything from alphabet books for…

Perhaps the most famous MS advocate today isn’t a patient, but the daughter of one. Author J.K. Rowling lost her mother to multiple sclerosis in 1990, something she describes as “an enormous shock.” In order to help…

There’s one thing you need to know about my family — we’re weird. We laugh at inopportune times. We can go entire days just speaking to one another in movie quotes. Sarcasm is a love language to my…

Now that 2016 is thankfully behind us, it’s time to start a new year — fresh, rested, and ready to kick butt and chew bubble gum. That being said, rest in peace David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Glen…

“This first candle in the advent wreath,” I told my kids as I clicked the lighter and set its flame atop the wick, “represents hope. What does that word mean to you guys?” In the warm glow…

In Cold Sassy Tree, the classic novel by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa Blakeslee tells his grandson Will Tweedy that, “Livin’ is like pourin’ water out of a tumbler into a dang Coca-Cola bottle. If’n you skeered you cain’t…

You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth. Those lines from William W. Purkey, a professor, author and…

When you have a chronic illness, learning everything you can about it is both a blessing and curse. The part of me that’s a researcher and a digger at heart, the one who simply can’t get enough information, gathers…

As a mother of two boys, I’m blessed with an abundance of dirty socks, Nerf darts, and Legos — all of which end up in the laundry (more or less) each week. And of those three kinds of detritus,…