Last year, when Jess and I were at Disney World for her birthday, I hired someone to create a special event for her. The event organizer arranged for Jessica to receive a letter telling her that Princess Jasmine (her favorite character ever) had bought her some birthday presents, but that evil Jafar had spotted her,…
Tag: Stories about Jessica
Building houses
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how life can make you question everything you believe. I quoted Rebecca, a reader who said, “With the initial wound of the TSC [tuberous sclerosis complex] diagnosis still fresh for us, I have shied away from examining any belief. Because, frankly, anything I have ever believed about this…
Talking to strangers
I wrote this essay about five years ago, and reading it today, realized how much it still captures who Jessica is and what my life with her is like. I hope you enjoy — My eight-year-old daughter Jessica is a friendly soul. From the time she was tiny, she would march right up to strangers…
Story time at the library
Every other Thursday evening, I bring Jessica to the library so we can listen to the storyteller. Miss Linda is a gentle woman of late middle age, with the quietly expressive voice of an experienced kindergarten teacher. Though all of the other children who come to listen are much younger, Jessica doesn’t seem to notice or…
A promise
Last week I was accused of being incapable of sustained seriousness, which is, as they say, a true fact. I have always felt that life is fundamentally absurd, and I like to have a good laugh at it. (Not that I don’t have deep thoughts. Just that usually they go away after a while.)…
A life in dragons
“I will try to like dragons,” Jessica says. We are standing in the China Pavilion at Epcot, because despite my deep aversion to the Disneyfication of the world, Jessica loves Disney. Specifically, the Walt Disney World Resort. So we go every now and then, and I always enjoy it because someone else…