What do you get a seven year old boy for his birthday?  Where do you have the party?  Who do you invite? These are the questions that I expected to be grappling with on a day like today – Simon’s birthday.  For me, and I can only speak for me...

Last night was Bubby’s 65th birthday party.  I flew down to Tampa to surprise her.  You wouldn’t have made the trip.  Mom, Sally and Jaden stayed home.  Aunt Meredith put together a great video.  Of course, you were in it. As we strolled down memory lane, looking at pictures from...

When Dorothy’s house came crashing down, she had no idea where she’d landed.  Nothing was normal – everything was strange.  She began her journey back to normalcy.  Along the way, she met some characters that had a profound impact on her life.  They opened her eyes and broadened her perspective. ...

When Simon died, we got some very important advice – “get your hearts checked because kids aren’t supposed to die.” Over the past six years, we’ve discovered that this advice was unique, which is unfortunate. Most of the families that we talk to that have been striken with sudden cardiac...

The Sycamore school board recently declined an offer from Simon’s Fund to pay for and organize a heart screening for the students in the District.  The board said that (1) they cannot support mass heart screenings because of the American Heart Association; and (2) that this is a matter for...

It started last night with Selection Sunday.  It builds this week with brackets and office pools.  It explodes this weekend with the first round of the NCAA Tournament as we march to the Final Four.  It’s a great time of year . . . as long as you are focused on college...

What, you don’t believe me?  My figure is only 39,999,960 more than the figure thrown around today by the medical experts called upon to discuss sudden cardiac arrest and student athletes.  As crazy as this sounds, their figure is much more misleading because we expect their figure to be rooted in research, science and...

As Americans, we will spend approximately $15 billion on gifts for Valentine’s Day.  This statistic, coupled with the fact that a calendar mandates we declare our love for someone, makes it easy to hate this holiday.  It’s commercial, it’s fabricated and it’s contrived. The real Valentine’s Day commemorates several Christian martyrs from Ancient Rome.  The romance thing didn’t enter the...

  This was the name of the  closing  session at the Parent Heart Watch Conference.  All of the other sessions dealt with AEDs, ECGs, genetic testing, sudden cardiac arrest legislation, etc.  They were concrete, factual and steeped in medicine.  This session asked us to consider something a little “out there”...

It’s all good.  The Pennsylvania School Health Code required a health screening for our daughter, Sally.  During the school day, she participated in a battery of tests.  Her vision is good.  Her hearing is good.  Her height, weight and body mass index are all good.  She can see and hear,...