December 16th, 2025 I may have mentioned this once or twice before but I am a very anxious person. I am a tragically empathetic sponge (which my drinking used to magically squeeze) and a standard-issue artist; I feel too much and when the world feels like too much my brain crosses streets like a squirrel.Continue reading “Cat Mom”
Tag Archives: Parenting
The Blame Game
September 25th, 2025 There has been so much nonsense this week that I personally don’t believe deserves addressing. But as the dad of an autistic child, I do have one thing to say. I know it’s our fault. It’s our fault that we created and brought this one-of-a-kind person into the world. It’s our faultContinue reading “The Blame Game”
The Rules
September 10th, 2025 I don’t write about my dad as much as I do my mom; it’s not that he isn’t as important to me, but that he’s still here. Often, when I’m writing about her, I find it’s my attempt to lose as little of her as I can, like collecting stardust into aContinue reading “The Rules”
The Ends of the Earth
September 1st, 2025 There’s a trend, but it’s not new; it’s as old as internet time (was there anything before?). It’s the idea of sharing something that absolutely does not need to be shared, in order to signal to others what tribe or political feed you subscribe to. There’s a version of this making theContinue reading “The Ends of the Earth”
Everything I Ever Was
August 12th, 2025 Whenever I’m feeling spicy (and I’ve been very spicy this week [don’t act like you didn’t notice]), my ongoing recovery reminds me to reflect on myself and figure out why. Sometimes it’s a complex web of things, anxiety and doubt and my schedule and projects and the state of the world, butContinue reading “Everything I Ever Was”
Maybe I’m Wrong, Part II
March 28th, 2023 It’s weird, because yesterday’s school shooting was supposed to be a heavy day for our country, but nearly every day is heavy with the same weight, like a wet blanket at the bottom of a swimming pool, so yesterday was just a normal day. This is our normal. I wrote an essayContinue reading “Maybe I’m Wrong, Part II”
V
December 9th, 2022 You were this close to living in a Dennis-less world. That’s one of the parts of my past we don’t talk much about. I’m not saying it would have been a better place or worse place, but it definitely would have been a different one. Today marks five years since I tookContinue reading “V”
Just Another Day
October 16th, 2022 It’s just another day. It’s football day. My dread is warmer than usual, my anxiety sharper. It’s not just another day. My dad legally divorced the Minnesota Vikings in 1998 over an incident neither he nor millions of other sports fans had any control over. My mom stayed committed to them. ThatContinue reading “Just Another Day”
Amsterdam
October 4th, 2022 I knew very little of what I wanted to be as a dad. My friend Kim and I were talking about our families after work tonight; as a special ed teacher, she encountered countless parents who weren’t sure how to react to their families being “different.” She shared with me a storyContinue reading “Amsterdam”
Trauma Like Candy
August 25th, 2022 When I was growing up, my dad took us camping a lot. That meant a lot of s’mores, mosquito bites, boat rides, sunburns, worms pierced with hooks, hammocks, and campfires. On one particular trip, during elementary school break, I had become fascinated with the fire pit on the grounds. It was madeContinue reading “Trauma Like Candy”
The Den 