Catherine Gigante-Brown

I saw my present mother-in-law in a whole new light the first time she held my newborn son.

Upset you lost your keys? Try losing your breast. Pissed off about missing that train? Try missing your son’s 8th grade graduation because of a horrific infection from fluid buildup in the previously-mentioned missing breast. See what I mean? It kind of puts life into perspective.

Content Notice: Death

Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions wasn't your typical cutesie baby fare. It was raw, real—and unabashedly funny.

Why do we venerate individuality in adults but condemn it in children?

Although I tried to convince myself that I wasn't racist, if the truth were told, I didn't like Muslims. Especially after 9/11.

I dreaded putting him back on Concerta in the fall but I knew I had to. Or did I?

After I got over the initial devastation, I pulled myself up by my big-girl panties and got on with it. Chemo was no picnic—but it was do-able.

My husband and I agreed: raising a child with an independent spirit who made decisions for himself was a good thing.

What Stephen didn’t know –– what no one knew –– was how weak my knees grew when I pushed through the swinging doors of the ICU.