Months after developing COVID-19, many people continue to suffer debilitating symptoms such as fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, depression and “brain fog,” sometimes appearing long after infections subside and affecting even those who only experienced mild bouts of the disease.

The condition, commonly referred to as “long COVID-19,” ...Read more

It seems to be generally true that as one gets older, the habit of reminiscing develops. Looking back seems to be a function of getting closer to the final curtain. The closer the latter, the more of the former in which one indulges. In that regard, I indulge in an optimistic amount.

I often reminisce about my paradoxical childhood. My parents ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — One evening last fall, after his three young children went to bed, Joseph Arriaga sat at his laptop and sent a Facebook message to a stranger.

"Hello Robert. My name is Joseph," it began. "I was born in 1992."

So many of Arriaga's defining memories had built toward this message. There was the time, around third grade, when a ...Read more

One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to the World Health Organization. But while there are cultural scripts for responding to pregnancy and birth, there isn't one for miscarriage. Instead, families facing pregnancy loss often experience shame, stigma and isolation.

Amanda Knox wants to change that.

Knox, who in 2015 was ...Read more

Families nationwide began receiving child tax credit payments from the federal government last week, but some worry the poorest Americans may never see a dollar.

Huge numbers of people are eligible for cash under the American Rescue Plan, including the most needy Americans. But many of them make so little money, they don't file taxes, which is ...Read more

Early in the pandemic, there were predictions that stay-at-home orders would spawn a baby boom.

“Nine months after folks are forced to hunker down and ride out a natural disaster, the birth rate suddenly spikes,” explained an article on Fatherly, a parenting news website. “Whether it’s the boredom...or the sense of impending doom, there...Read more

When I ask a teacher, “What is the biggest problem you face?”

The answer — there has never been an exception — is “parents.”

That is certainly a recent phenomenon.

My parents were not a problem for my teachers, nor were the parents of my friends. We were afraid of what our parents would do if a teacher reported a problem to them...Read more

A hot dog eating contest, with soggy hot dog buns being shoved into mouths, might not be the most romantic setting. But for Sarah and Juan Rodriguez, it helped spur their first kiss.

The Naperville, Illinois, spouses will be competing in this weekend’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, a nationally ...Read more

BALTIMORE — It’s an early Monday afternoon and Ryan Butler and Jeremiah Nieves are driving back to Baltimore from an eventful weekend in Ocean City.

They hadn’t been basking in the sun at the beach. They were there to perform five drag shows in two days as they attempt to make up for nearly a year’s worth of lost income.

Back in ...Read more

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Aaron and Tonya Rhoden always have big ideas together. They eloped in Hawaii in 2016, when he proposed at sunset on a mountain in Maui, and she wanted to get married the very next day.

Preparing for a kidney transplant together is another life challenge the couple is tackling together. In a surgery later this month, Tonya, ...Read more

CHICAGO – “I was a hurt baby.”

Sheldon Smith founded the Dovetail Project when he was 21 because he wanted things to be different. His father was in and out of his life, and his father’s father wasn’t around either. “I was a broken child,” he said. “I wanted to be able to break the curse of kids being hurt.”

On June 10, the ...Read more

CHICAGO – Nicholas Vazquez and Jesse Campbell wanted to do something big for Pride Month.

They didn’t expect to go viral.

In the days since their giant, rainbow-streaming paintbrush began to draw crowds in front of their home, the couple is channeling the attention into raising money to help LGBTQ kids and young adults.

Vazquez and ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Walk out your doorstep into the humid Philadelphia spring, and you can touch the closest thing to normal in more than a year. From the crowds at Phillies games and the Flower Show to the diners and shoppers on Main Streets throughout the region, joy and relief are palpable.

But instead of fully celebrating, Sheikh Siddique has ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Saroun Khan can't shake the sense that his freedom might be temporary.

After 13 months in ICE custody, he's back in the Philadelphia rowhouse where he grew up. He can walk the streets of his neighborhood, savoring the thick summer air and drenching evening rain.

But with every step he knows there's nothing to prevent the ...Read more

BALTIMORE – About noon on that Saturday in May, Sarah Holzman threw open the front door to her home to greet more than a dozen relatives and friends. It was the first gathering since before the pandemic began, and she had not seen some faces in more than a year. Inside her home were the fixings for a massive, all-in-one party, from Easter eggs...Read more

LOS ANGELES – Nearly every evening after dinner, Mary and Melissa Anderson walked together along the rural road stretching out from their home.

The one-mile journey amid groves of walnut trees became a safe space for mother and daughter. The walk was always the same, to the nearest stop sign and back, but the conversations ranged wide and ...Read more