Columns

I imagine most have heard the phrase “the truth will set you free.” I’ve heard some folks apply these words as general advice against spreading lies. Others appreciate the Christian roots of the phrase. I once even heard a person use the quote in the context of sales…

I don’t plan to ever discourage anyone from making New Year’s resolutions. But I also like to think I’m not the only one who, at one point or another, had an aspiration to get fit and set it as some kind of nebulous goal to be accomplished by the end…

On Halloween evening, I sat outside on a beach chair with a tub of candy in front of me. It had been a long time since I last handed out Halloween candy to the neighborhood kids. The past few years, of course, were disrupted by the pandemic. But this year,…

How do those of us with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) communicate how it affects us and explain what it’s like to be a CMTer? As someone who has fairly mild CMT symptoms, I’ve described the disease as a kind of genetic clumsiness. However, I always knew that never…

I want to love my body, but that’s not always easy to do. Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease has physically changed me. Sometimes it’s hard not to feel wistful when I imagine what life would be like if my body were completely different. In my darkest moods, I might even…

Can Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) be a gift? Many in our community have pondered this question, and I’ve written about it before. But I’ve been thinking about the idea again after my sister brought it up while we were visiting our parents in Ohio recently. My sister…

I rarely have opportunities to talk about disability narratives while working as an assistant for my local public library system. Typically, when I talk books with patrons, we discuss the latest bestsellers, young adult fantasy series, or author gossip. However, with the support of my co-workers at my local library…

It’s definitely not a universal truth that every person with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) has negative associations with athletics and grade school gym class. However, because many of us with CMT have limited mobility and weak ankles and hands, we tend not to excel in many sports or gym…

Much of what we know about Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), and often take for granted, is relatively new information. Many of the breakthroughs in our understanding of treatments, genetic subtypes, orthotics, and surgery have come about in the last 40 years. But there’s still a lot we don’t know.

There is a common game that children play, although I’m not aware of an official name for it. The game is pretty simple and involves two players. Player one presents a fist to player two and holds it as tightly as possible. Player two then tries to pry each finger…