December 7, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, a little guilt might be under the Christmas tree Counting today, there are only 18 shopping days left until Christmas. Unless you’re one of those annoying people who did all their gift buying months ago and won’t stop talking about it, the clock is ticking. I guess that makes me one of those annoying people who reminds you of…
December 23, 2022 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell I’m Giving Myself the Gift of Grace This Christmas The ballerina twirls in the late afternoon light. As if on cue, Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” suite begins to play. I’mĀ lost in the dimly lit ornaments as my mind wanders. I fall into a deep nostalgia. My mind is a montage of Christmases past. My 6-year-old self follows my dad as we…
December 22, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister ”Twas the Night Before Christmas’: A Multiple Sclerosis Parody The holiday season is one of my favorite times of year. Multiple sclerosis (MS), of course, has a way of sucking the joy out of anything, but it can’t have my family’s Christmas. I might miss sleeping in, but our three boys have really brought the magic…
December 7, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah How I Plan to Have a Cracking Christmas With MS As an adult, it hasn’t been easy for me to get into the Christmas spirit. Planning festivities and buying gifts don’t come naturally to me. Perhaps it’s because adult life never ends, whereas as a student, I had holiday breaks that signified the beginning of the season, allowing me to…
December 17, 2021 Columns by Jamie Hughes Feeling Overwhelmed? Wander Under the Stars If you read my last column, you know that my Thanksgiving was eventful, to say the least. Well, it looks like Christmas is shaping up to be another banger. My father-in-law is back in the hospital, still trying to kick the infections that have knocked him flat recently. We…
December 17, 2021 Columns by John Connor Santa Is Not Cominā to Town! This is the fifth year I’m writing a Christmastime missive about how my MS journey as Santa is going since the disease mortally attacked my immune system. The trouble was that it took doctors ages to work out my diagnosis. Being Santa Claus, no MRI machine…
December 18, 2020 Columns by John Connor Santa Claus Is Still Cominā to Town Santa refuses to use email! At least letter-sending is a thousand years older than he is! (Via Shutterstock) Well, 2020 was a weird year for everybody. It was even weird for magical creatures, as these days, an awful lot of people believe they exist! It’s tough now to hide.
March 27, 2020 Columns by John Connor Do They Know It’s Not Christmas? Quarantine sure feels like Christmas. The shops are stripped bare. The streets are empty. Family homes are stuffed with everyone returning home. In our case, my wife rescued my youngest son from his cool digs near Hammersmith in West London on Monday, just in time. The prime minister announced a…
December 13, 2018 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Living with Intention This Christmas Ever since I can remember, my family has had a real Christmas tree. Finding the perfect tree became a magical adventure. We often cut our own, but as I grew older, we would choose one from a local lot. My mom would play traditional Christmas songs while…
November 30, 2018 Columns by Jamie Hughes Ho-Ho-No Even when a major holiday isnāt scheduled in a calendar month, Iām a pretty busy lady. I work a full-time job that requires me to be present and āonā most of every day. I also have to deal with Atlanta traffic, which is physically and mentally exhausting. Iām a…
January 12, 2018 Columns by John Connor A Quiet Week I could be in a fancy restaurant in central London rather than sitting at home writing this. Don’t feel sorry for me, I chose to stay in. The Christmas month ofĀ DecemberĀ is very hard. Extreme partying is allied with extreme levels of work. In my game,Ā they are as…
December 21, 2017 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski My Holiday Gift Wish Itās that time of year when everyone is asking: What would you like for Christmas? Shopping for the perfect gift for me is a challenge because Iāve been around long enough to have most of the things I want or need. In fact, we have so much that at…
December 15, 2017 Columns by Jamie Hughes The Greatest Gifts Christmas is just around the corner, and thatās why many people are on the fruitless quest for Fingerlings or hocking an organ to buy the new iPhone. Both might be the āhotā presents of the season, but neither of them holds a candle to the great gifts we…