Posts by: Emma Schmitz

Emma Schmitz

Emma lives in Truckee, California and earned a degree in Literature: Creative Writing from UC Santa Cruz in 2013. Her mother, Diana, was officially diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2019 and had a single-lung transplant in May 2020. Emma was one of her caregivers during recovery and continues to support her mother from 185 miles away every day. Her column, “The Emotional Support Daughter,” sums up their relationship in a cheeky but loving way, and Emma hopes to depict her mother's journey through her own lens with equal doses of realism, humor, and compassion.

March 24, 2021March 19, 2021

Weighing Risks and Rewards as a Lung Transplant Patient

Columns, The Emotional Support Daughter – a Column by Emma Schmitz

My mom, Diana, long hoped to outlive both her mother and grandmother. She accomplished that goal some years ago, and thanks to her single-lung transplant last May, she sets a ... Read more

March 10, 2021March 8, 2021

Caring for My Mom When Her Lifesaving Organ Brought Hereditary Risk

Columns, The Emotional Support Daughter – a Column by Emma Schmitz

Spending a month in San Francisco is a good way to get out of your head. Some people come to the mountains, where I live, to clear their minds. I ... Read more

February 24, 2021February 22, 2021

I Miss Giving My Mom the Gift of a Good Hug

Columns, The Emotional Support Daughter – a Column by Emma Schmitz

I don’t know if humans will recover from this pandemic: the lack of touch, the resocializing to keep our distance, the physical isolation. I have dreams where I’m in groups ... Read more

February 10, 2021February 8, 2021

I Now Understand the Importance of Really Washing Your Hands

Columns, The Emotional Support Daughter – a Column by Emma Schmitz

“Did you wash your hands?” That’s a question I was very familiar with long before the COVID-19 pandemic. My mom, Diana, is an obsessive hand-washer. She is also obsessive about ... Read more

January 27, 2021January 25, 2021

Finding the Perfect Rental Home for Our Transplant Patient

Columns, The Emotional Support Daughter – a Column by Emma Schmitz

Care-cation: an extended stay in a place away from home to care for a loved one in need. In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, we had a week or ... Read more

January 13, 2021January 8, 2021

Transplant in the Time of Coronavirus

Columns, The Emotional Support Daughter – a Column by Emma Schmitz

On a beautiful Thursday afternoon late last May, my partner and I took the dogs swimming at our secret spot at a nearby reservoir. A sailboat gliding across the water ... Read more

December 16, 2020December 11, 2020

Hello, I’m the Emotional Support Daughter

Columns, The Emotional Support Daughter – a Column by Emma Schmitz

I was finally at that mature stage in life when you go to beer festivals with your mother. (Oh, that’s not a thing?) On a windy fall day in October ... Read more