Black and Blue Ribbons
— Karen Del Vecchio

It’s crazy how sometimes time seems to simultaneously crawl and fly by. It feels like just yesterday when I was headed to work as a high school history teacher and a college counselor. On…

It’s a bit hard to believe it’s already summer. Yet, the blistering heat and lack of rain remind me each morning that, yes, it is actually almost July. This past school year has been…

A few months ago, when I finally returned to the dentist after being fully vaccinated for COVID-19, we talked about redoing my Invisalign. Although I had braces as a teenager, my teeth began to…

As I sit here working on my column, with a heating pad wrapped around my hip to calm down a recent injury, I wonder about the similarities…

As I often do, I had an interesting discussion with my rock-star massage therapist Kim last week. She’d been on vacation for a few weeks, so I’d missed a session and was feeling…

Well, it’s official. The COVID-19 school year is officially complete! For students, at least. As faculty, we still have a few weeks left, but I still can’t believe it’s over already. This year has…

Shoes and I have an interesting relationship. I’ve said before that I seem to be much more susceptible to blisters, but my flat feet are a different issue. Like many people with Ehlers-Danlos…

Although sleeping helps me feel my best, it is also my greatest adversary. Like many people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, chronic exhaustion is a constant battle. No matter how much sleep I get, I’m…

Sometimes I wonder how much of my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is visible to others. Apart from the obvious things, like my bruising, I think much goes unnoticed. This is partly because I have more…

Several years ago I learned an important distinction about positivity. For a long time, I had thought that positivity meant ignoring what was upsetting or not going right so that you could “pretend” to…

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. As part of my job as a college counselor, I’m working with high school seniors to help them make college decisions. As someone who lives and…

I know I write frequently about my massages, but that’s because they are the only treatment available to me, and they keep my pain level under control. This is one reason I find…