Air of Life — Ed Jordan

When my late daughter, Jasmine, turned 15, I remember thinking how grown-up she’d become and how much of her world she managed on her own. As a single father, I always worried about getting things right, especially with something as complex as her cystic fibrosis (CF). But Jasmine had…

When my daughtr, Jasmine, turned 14, something subtle and remarkable happened in our home. It wasn’t that her cystic fibrosis (CF) disappeared. It never did, of course, but its presence faded, no longer the ever-present shadow it had once been. Our routines, which in the early years felt so…

My late daughter, Jasmine, turned 13 in the spring of 2005, and sometimes, when she walked through the door after school, I got a flash of the little girl she used to be. After she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) in 1994, I thought about the future…

Holidays used to sneak up on me. I’d barely notice the calendar flipping over to June. Maybe I’d see a sign in the grocery store or a rack of “World’s Best Dad” mugs by the checkout, but it never meant much. Father’s Day was just another Sunday. I was never…

By the time my late daughter, Jasmine, had turned 11, we’d become professionals at handling cystic fibrosis (CF). In those years, our lives revolved around a schedule that most people couldn’t imagine. CF is a genetic disease that causes the mucus in the body to become thick and sticky,…

When my late daughter, Jasmine, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1994, we had appointments to remember, medications to track, and other treatments that seemed to eat up every spare moment. I remember sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by prescription bottles and sticky notes, wondering how I would…

When my late daughter, Jasmine, who had cystic fibrosis, turned 10 in 2001, she had lived through a year of medical routines and hospitalizations. But there were also moments of unexpected joy. For her birthday, she wanted a unicorn cake, so we attempted to make one together. With our…

Every morning used to start the same way. My late daughter, Jasmine, would shuffle into the kitchen with wild-looking hair, rub the sleep from her eyes, and ask for applesauce with cinnamon. Before she could eat, though, she’d have to do her cystic fibrosis treatment regimen, which consisted of…

During the summer of 2001, when my late daughter, Jasmine, was 9, she required a two-week hospital stay due to an acute pulmonary exacerbation — a complication of her cystic fibrosis (CF). Life was never the same after that. When I finally brought her home, the relief was…

When my late daughter, Jasmine, was 8 years old, she never wanted to miss a party. Even when her lungs felt heavy and her breath was short, she’d insist on putting on a T-shirt and jeans, ready for any adventure that awaited her. She loved birthday parties most of all…