Party of 9 – a Column by Betty Vertin

January doesn’t just bring a new calendar year. For four of us in this family, it’s when we celebrate our birthdays. A new year of life! I live in Nebraska with my husband and six of the seven children we share. My daughter, Lexi, 24, lives in another town…

I love my house and the home life my husband, Jason, and I have created. My family lives in a four-bedroom, two-bath, finished-basement, ranch-style home in south-central Nebraska. It was brand-new when we bought it, and we were its first owners. Jason and I had been living in a small…

The end of the year offered up two beautiful weeks with my family and very few responsibilities. We canceled pool therapy, had no medical appointments, the kids were out of school, and I took a break from writing. We spent 10 days at home, just us. It was exactly what…

Navigating the holidays creates some logistical problems for my family. It’s not because there are nine of us. We might be a big family, but if we can all fit in our average-sized, ranch-style home, then we can fit in most homes. Having three power wheelchair users in the family…

The holiday season is upon us, and I am already exhausted. I’m well aware of everything I need to do in December, so being this tired already isn’t great. It makes me think about the opening lines of “The Night Before Christmas”: “Twas the night before Christmas when all through…

I met my husband, Jason, when we were both student athletes at a small college in our hometown. He played football, and I was on the track team. Before we had children and settled into adult life, Jason and I enjoyed going to parties. We had so much fun together.

When I was a young mom watching my oldest daughter, Lexi, move from upper elementary to middle school, I often felt heartbroken and helpless. She was an excellent student and friend at school, but when she came home, her exhaustion could turn into crankiness, and it felt like she was…

My oldest son, Max, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in 2010, when he was 4. The doctor told us to expect that he’d need help with all of his activities of daily living in his teens and that he would die in his early 20s. Max turns…

Last weekend, my husband and I cleaned out our storage unit. My husband loves that unit, while I feel like we need one so that we don’t accumulate too much stuff around the house. We started renting it two years ago when we were hosting our oldest son’s high…

We are on the brink of November, and it’s beginning to turn cold here in Nebraska. My husband and I are debating whether we should turn the heat on. I say yes. He says no. Each morning before school is a frenzy as we search for jackets our children can’t…