My Week With Willow
“All little girls should be told how pretty they are,” says Marilyn. “They should grow up knowing how much their mother loves them.”
My Week With Willow Read More »
“All little girls should be told how pretty they are,” says Marilyn. “They should grow up knowing how much their mother loves them.”
My Week With Willow Read More »
According to Tucson’s best and Willow’s favorite physical therapist, John Woolf, Willow is rockin’ it as she recovers from her ACL replacement surgery. Because of her hard work over the summer in Wisconsin with two different physical therapists, a certified trainer and a sports medicine physician, AND her good-girl behavior (staying off the waterski / wakeboard and not running), she’s right on schedule to get back to soccer.
The Long Hot Summer Recovery Process Read More »
Warning: Contains foul language At Willow’s pre-op appointment with Dr. Tucker, one of his assistants fitted her for the brace that would become a big part of her support system for the first stage of her post-op experience. It’s an uncomplicated device made partly of Velcro and plastic, but primarily of black, foamy material, on
ACL Diary: Embrace the Brace Read More »
Willow’s dad—the true videographer in the family—was out of town during the game when she tore her ACL. This is why I was behind the camera. I was recording for two reasons. One, so her dad could watch the game later, and two, because I was putting together college recruitment videos for Willow and another
ACL Diary: The Ugly, The Bad and The Good Read More »
The Surgery Itself Willow’s ACL tear happened during the first game of the 2011 AZ State Cup, which is the last tournament of the season, and the most important in terms of establishing team ranking. She was also in the midst of her school track season and had just posted her best time, three seconds
ACL Diary: Clearing Hurdles Read More »
“Has it really been less than three weeks?” On the news this morning, I heard that it’s been three weeks since Holly Bobo, the nursing student from Tennessee, was abducted in her front yard. These periodic abduction stories tend to upset my husband and cause him to worry about the safety of his own daughters.
ACL Diary: Pain and Percocet Read More »
“Someone, Please Tell Me What To Do!” One of the complications of living in the United States, and I’ve often made this observation when facing a big decision, is that there’s far too much choice. I may have first had this feeling when doing something as trivial as walking down the cereal aisle at the
ACL Diary: Making Choices Read More »
A Hundred Phone Calls Willow and I sat for about an hour in the Urgent Care waiting room on the Saturday afternoon she went down, and our dear friend, Mike Smith—my sometimes second (soccer) husband—brought Willow a burger and a chocolate shake. It turns out that it was the most food she’d eat for the
ACL Diary: The Immediate Aftermath Read More »
The first entry in a series, ACL Diary, documenting my daughter’s ACL injury. Spring, 2011. A woman named Peggy Tanous on the Bravo TV Series, Real Housewives of Orange County, pissed me off when she made a blanket statement about Soccer Moms. My message to Peggy: “Don’t talk about what you don’t know.”
ACL Diary: Real Soccer Moms Read More »
I grew up in a waterskiing family. For two weeks every summer, we left behind the concrete western suburbs of Chicago and headed to Michigan, to a magical place called “Corey Lake.” They were the best two weeks of the year. We had a wooden Milocraft boat with first a 35 then a 40 horse
The Family That Skis Together . . . Read More »