Interviews and Spotlights

Agreed denial. That was our little dance — my mother and me — when it came to her health concerns. Her Parkinson's started with a pinky tremor. My adoptive mother — 50 years older than me, widowed, and fiercely independent — was determined to live alone. Then came heart disease, and the Parkinson's got worse. I was preoccupied.

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body, including the skin, joints, and internal organs. About 9 out of 10 adults with lupus are women. Lupus is two to three times more common in African-American women than in white women. Some women have only mild symptoms. But, for others, lupus can cause serious problems.

As we honor veterans this month, I also like to celebrate their families, particularly their spouses. Being a military spouse means accepting the possibility of deployment, moving from place to place, and the reality that maintaining your own career may be difficult. In this blog post, we talked with Tonya Willis about her experiences as a veteran and military spouse.

I still remember the first time I felt "fat." I was trying on my new bikini that my mom and I bought the week before. I ran over to my mom, looked at her, and sobbed, "Mom, I don't like how this looks on me. I look soooo fat."

I was in third grade.

I took Bubba to Daddy's Country Kitchen a few Wednesdays back for the all-you-can-eat chicken-n-dumplings special. It also features fried okra, butter beans, fried chicken, and the best peach and pineapple cobbler on the planet — and of course, sweet tea. All are foods to die for, or die from, depending on your diet philosophy.

Ed. note: This blog is cross-posted from Everyday Health. The original post date was May 8, 2015. Read the original post.

Content warning: Rape and sexual assault

When I was 6 years old, I wanted to be a ballerina. Pink and fluffy. At 14, I wanted to be a minister. As close to God as possible. At 17, I wanted to be a chemical engineer and speak Japanese. And, then at 18, I was raped.

I don't think anything can prepare you for the moment when they unveil the piece of paper that contains your fate. Even though the odds seemed to be against me, I was not prepared to be told I had HIV. Turns out, the doctor had worse news: It was actually an AIDS diagnosis and the doctor gave me 3 to 6 months to live.

Content warning: Physical and emotional abuse

When I was 22, a few weeks before I met the man who physically abused me, I told my roommate I'd never be stupid enough to let a man beat me.

I wish I'd known that abusers never hit you on the first date.

Just a month before my 27th birthday, my world stopped. It was Christmastime, and most everyone around me was preparing for the holiday festivities; but not me.