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Noraeverafter

  • Modern Motherhood

    “Wait and See” (Part Two)

    May 14, 2025 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    “Wait and See” (Part One)

    April 22, 2025 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    Anger Room

    June 11, 2024 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    The Wheel Goes Round and Round

    February 25, 2024 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    Removal and Refurbishment 

    May 7, 2023 Read More
  • Brands We Love Grace & Nora's World

    Children’s Book Announcement: “Grace and Nora’s Dance Among the Stars”

    December 14, 2022 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    An Ambulance Ride, Ice Bath, and a Word on Joy.

    November 30, 2022 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    “She Is The Worst Birth Control”: A Baby Book

    November 8, 2022 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    If Only I Could Roller Skate

    May 6, 2022 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood

    Patient Plants, Pristine Spaces, and Bones

    February 11, 2022 Read More
  • Modern Motherhood Stories of Kindness

    Pages from My Thought Journal

    “The difference between a flower and a weed is a judgment.” – Unknown I‘m a mother to a child with medical complexities, and the problem is this: I’m tired of feeling like I’m surviving,…

    October 4, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood Stories of Kindness

    From the Desk of Jesse Van Leeuwen: Notes of Gratitude

    “We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Attributed to Mother Teresa I‘m a mother to a child with medical complexities, and the problem is this:…

    September 23, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood

    A Token of Hope

    I slide into the driver’s seat of my car as the CVS Pharmacy bag in my arms, piled high with medications, crunches loudly against the steering wheel. I hoist an overstuffed Target shopping bag…

    August 22, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood Stories of Kindness

    Last Week’s Letter to My New Psychiatrist (Version One)

    Dear Doctor, I am writing to you today, at 6 AM in the morning, because yesterday was hard, and I am starting my day feeling both depleted and discouraged. For the record, I do…

    July 7, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood Research

    My Invitation

    Click here to view the recording of our research group’s virtual art gallery event (90 minute webinar.) On June 20, 2020 you are invited to a personal virtual art exhibition event created by six…

    June 10, 2020
  • Stories of Kindness

    The Hospice Social Worker Who Refused to Wear a Mask

    Years ago when I was getting my degree, I met the hospice social worker outside the home of her first patient of the morning— I was to shadow her throughout her work day. As…

    April 17, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood Stories of Kindness

    A Note to the Chick-Fil-A Team Member Who Asked Me, “Is She Going to Get Better?”

    To the Chick-Fil-A Team Member who asked me, “Is she going to get better?”   I am sure you don’t remember me, as it has been almost a full year since I pulled up…

    April 8, 2020
  • Grace & Nora's World

    I Think We Could All Use Some “UP”- Lifting Thoughts

    Hello Friends, Many of you are familiar with Grace and Nora’s dance duet – “Be Still” from 2017.  Nora and Grace continue to dance together, once a week, in an inclusive dance class (taught…

    March 20, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood

    Save Our Oak

    The red weather-torn letters read, “SAVE OUR OAK.” They peel away from a yellow poster that’s topped with a large, bright, yellow ribbon. The sign hangs across a chain link rent-a-fence. My neighborhood is…

    March 9, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood

    “Prom?”

    I’ve walked into harder times, and I’ve walked out the other side It seems like you end up getting what you need Yeah, looking down from 30,000 feet, life’s been good to me —Lyrics…

    February 12, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood

    My Skin Is Screaming

    I dim the lights in the bathroom as the faucet roars and fills the bathtub with cold water. I plug the drain before I unwrap a fringe scarf from my neck and pull my…

    January 9, 2020
  • Modern Motherhood Stories of Kindness

    And Then, My Entire Family Bought Roller Skates: A Thank You Note

    The crickets belong in the old stone wall and the bees belong in the clover, just as winter belongs in its place after fall, before the new year starts over. —You Belong Here, written…

    December 27, 2019
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About Me

About Me

Hi! My name is Jesse, and I enjoy filling this space with stories about my motherhood and my family's day-to-day life with Aicardi syndrome. Thanks for stopping by. More

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