Transplant in the Time of Coronavirus
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 made me reminisce about…
The Emotional Support Daughter
— 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.
Featured Post
For the Love of a Good Book: Overcoming Mental Fatigue
My mom, Diana, has this endearing way of summarizing books she’s read or movies she’s seen by reducing entire plotlines to who’s in love with whom. As someone who’s studied the craft of storytelling, I have…
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Hello, I’m the Emotional Support Daughter
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 2016,…
