I’m Fabulous (According to Supermodel Cheryl Tiegs)

When Cheryl Tiegs – yes, supermodel Cheryl Tiegs — gave me a hug and said that I looked fabulous in my new dress and polished makeup, well, that was something I never could have dreamed of as a trans kid spending their life hiding as a boy. I also couldn’t Read more

When Half a Brain is the Only Option

My daughter has half a brain. No, really. She does. Allow me to explain. Sasha arrived on a Friday morning, in late-February. She was three weeks early and weighed 4.5 pounds. Aside from her low-birth weight, she was perfect. Words I used to describe her babyhood included happy, giggly, curious, Read more

Dear Pharmacists … (a letter from the disgruntled masses)

Dear Pharmacists, We see you standing there with your antiseptic smile. We smile back and hand you our prescriptions. We watch as your face distorts in front of us. The stigma of the prescribed medication takes over. Your face no longer has that fake smile, it is instead replaced with judgement. Before Read more

Escape from ISIS

They had been surrounded by ISIS for months. The siege continued to build as fighters managed to cut off water, electricity, and the flow of goods into the city. Residents of Qaraqosh, the largest Christian-majority city in Iraq, grew more and more tense living in the shadow of ISIS.Although Kurdish Read more

No One Taught Us How to Cope With the Business of Death

“I am a woman, phenomenally.  Phenomenal woman, that’s me.”  Maya Angelou Heather W, Mara, Melissa, Barb, Alison, Jennifer, Heather J, Mary, Jenny, Carrie. These are 10 women I’ve crossed paths with over the last 22 months who lost their husbands at a very young age, mostly unexpected. Some of these women Read more

10 Tips to Deal with Grownup “Mean Girl” Friends

“I’m sorry that people are so jealous of me. But I can’t help it that I’m popular.” ~Regina George This weekend I was in one of my favorite book haunts, Goodwill’s 50% off Saturday, and stumbled across a copy of Queen Bees and WannaBes, the inspiration for the great Tina Fey Read more