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This will be my last post, at least for a while. ThingsMyDaughterTaughtMe is going on hiatus, but before I sign…

Not long ago, we were sitting in a restaurant, Lisa, Gabriella, Alexander and me. It was a family-friendly place –…

Every so often I think, ‘And so this is joy’. Not just happiness, but flat-out euphoria. It happened this past…

Travel with Gabriella has always had its limitations, but we’ve gotten more adventurous over the past few years. Last week…

Because I spend my days now writing historical fiction, I tend to think in terms of genres. It occurs to…

Why her? That question bubbled up right from the day of her extraordinary birth. Why did this happen to our…

It’s now a cliché to say it takes a village to raise a child, but in no case is it…

All of us remember where we were on 9/11. Like all of our family’s stories these past 24 years, my…

Conclusion of a four-part sequence (links to earlier parts below). The first time Gabriella’s doctor suggested inserting a G-tube, enabling…

We were in the midst of the most frenetic year our family had experienced since Gabriella was three. This time…

All summer, Gabriella had been coughing. She was often congested. And her respiratory complications raised alarms about aspiration. It was…

The feeling lurks within like a sleeping beast. It’s not so much a spike of fear as a lingering dread,…

Nostalgia is a funny thing. I’ve experienced it in memories of childhood, of our early marriage, of good friends, but…

A week ago, we got Gabriella in the pool twice. This wasn’t always a big deal, but it is now….

After Gabriella got her Panda adapted stroller, getting around became more complicated. While the Panda divided into two pieces, both…

When Lisa told me she wanted to take Gabriella on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, I was skeptical. All we had…

Soon after the final pathology report, Lisa suggested we take Gabriella to Lourdes. Our daughter was little more than a…

Lisa and I were blessed with amazing dads. This Father’s Day, I’d like to share some things we learned from…

Last Wednesday morning, just after we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, Gabriella and I waited on a short standby line…

What if? Isn’t that the question many of us ask throughout lives? What if I had gone the other way…

On the weekend of the royal wedding, Gabriella got to play the princess not once, but twice. Last week, her…

Today is Mother’s Day, a time when people across America and around the world celebrate the incredible women who make…

Last week, Gabriella went on a field trip with her adult program. The group has ventured out before, going to…

Dear Future Special Education Teacher, First, I thank you for your courage in embarking on this journey. While special education…

“Luck!” “Skill!” When we were kids, we used to bicker about the origins of a long swish on the basketball…

 In a prior post, I offered five ways that caring for a special needs child made me a better leader…

This week, I’m pleased to share a guest post by Gabriella’s brother Alexander. I think you’ll enjoy it. I’ve always…

In 2005, Gabriella faced surgery again. We had prepared our daughter for operations before, but not for six years. Now…

Our daughter had always suffered from a curvature in her mid-back, but as she grew her scoliosis affected her whole…

Every day, we use equipment to care for and transport Gabriella. These range from medical implements to her wheelchair and…

In twenty-three years, we have experienced moments of joy and of relief. Likewise, we’ve known the terror that accompanied the…

On Friday we, like many households across the Northeast, lost power. As with each outage we’ve experienced in the past,…

Saturday mornings are special for me. Sometimes my alarm goes off first, sometimes I hear Gabriella’s plaintive urgings through the…

Even at four, Gabriella hadn’t outgrown her baby carrier. She grew in sporadic bursts, but like most things, her weight…

As more of us do than would care to admit, I look to my faith in God more when my…

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, with a lot of focus on winning. We live in a culture that values winning,…

At the beginning, we thought a genetic diagnosis would help us conquer the mystery and achieve our quest like the…

Every snowfall, every sleet-storm, every freezing rain, our driveway is a journey into the unknown, just as our life has…

Time. It’s our most precious resource. For everyone, finding time is challenging. There are untold classes and articles about how…

Some events from Gabriella’s early life are as clear in our minds as summer storms – diagnoses portentous as thunder,…

We had a wonderful Christmas season this year; I hope you did, too. Like many, I confess that I overindulged,…

On the first day of Christmas, my Peanut* gave to me A life lesson in dignity. * As I wrote…

Gabriella was up early on Saturday morning. She announced herself with a soft moaning we call “creaking”, sounding in waves…

From birth to three, Gabriella received services through the Early Intervention Program. As her third birthday approached, we looked for…

This week is Gabriella’s birthday, and family came together to celebrate this past Saturday. As we do every year, we…

I’m thankful this year because twenty-three years ago, we received a gift, a daughter who was nothing like what we…

At the same time that medical emergencies and setbacks kept our family busy during Gabriella’s first years, we (and especially…

We’re a family that loves to travel, but we’ve found our options limited with a daughter in a wheelchair. Not…

To commemorate the six-month anniversary of our blog at Things My Daughter Taught Me, today I am sharing the story…

Gabriella has always enjoyed trips to the local aquarium or the Cape May Zoo. Her delight comes from the motion…

Approaching a special needs family, or approaching a person with disabilities directly, can often be awkward or intimidating. People have…

I’ve often said that most of the friends we’ve made and the good people we’ve met over the past 22…

I’m just going to put it out there. Living with a child with multiple disabilities, I don’t believe there’s a…

A couple months ago, I put forth five lessons about leadership and life that I’ve taken away from over two…

Third of three parts With the tumor removed, Gabriella began the healing process. Lisa and I held a vigil at…

We sat in that small room, Lisa and me on chairs, the neurosurgeons and the plastic surgeon arranged on the…

I’ve posted a lot about the more traumatic hospital experiences of Gabriella’s first two years. But not every trip to…

First of three parts. The neurosurgeon said it looked like nothing to worry about, but she suggested we keep an…

I often wonder what it must be like to be you. What must it be like to be stared at…

This week we took Gabriella down the boardwalk again. Over the years, she’s gone from being pale-faced and intimidated by…

Her feet were the first sign of trouble. Gabriella was our first, but even without Lisa’s medical knowledge I knew…

Gabriella loves bedtime stories. From the time she could lie head-to-toe between my palm and the inside of my elbow,…

Life’s about the journey, they say, not the destination. I’m not sure if that’s why, but Gabriella is often happiest…

Time had fleeted since we discovered that Gabriella had contracted cataracts, as I described last week. The extraction surgeries went…

First of two parts. “She has cataracts.” Sitting in my cubicle, I heard Lisa’s staggered breath in the phone. This…

For a 21st century kid, Gabriella has limited forms of entertainment, with most requiring personal attention. We try to get…

I had the fortune to serve as a senior leader for most of two decades at a great mission-based organization….

Today is Father’s Day. From that first June after Gabriella’s birth, it’s been a day I’ve cherished. In 1997, it…

Last week, I described taking Gabriella for her first visit to the geneticist’s office, only to discover that she was…

First of two parts. Looking back, so many of the big events in Gabriella’s infancy involved visits to the geneticist’s…

While I normally post on Mondays, I will occasionally post a book review I find pertinent on Thursdays. This is…

One of the scariest things about raising a kid like Gabriella is that she has a language all her own….

This weekend was the Lakeview prom. Gabriella spent eighteen happy years as a student at Lakeview School. Every morning, she…

From the beginning, one thing that surprised me was the paperwork. For an industry filled with so many intelligent people,…

Right around Gabriella’s first birthday, Lisa got pregnant for the second time. We really wanted this, sure it would benefit…

Each one of these kids is unique, and that can be the scariest thing of all. I had worked my…

We live in a society that likes to know what to expect. The online world is full of spoilers, for…

I believe our world needs a sanctuary for parents and family members of people with disabilities, and for those who…