Air of Life - a Column by Ed Jordan

After my late daughter, Jasmine, turned 17, something new began to grow alongside the medical routines that had shaped her life with cystic fibrosis (CF). Every morning still started with the bronchial drainage machine loosening the mucus in her lungs. Nebulizer treatments followed, and pancreatic enzymes remained…

By the time my late daughter, Jasmine, turned 17, our days had settled into a kind of uneasy peace. The routines that helped us manage her cystic fibrosis (CF) had become second nature. Every morning began with the bronchial drainage machine thumping away in the living room as…

Life at home never really went back to normal after Jasmine’s last hospital stay. She was 16 and wise beyond her years in ways that only kids who’ve spent too much time in hospitals can be. Every day was a balancing act for me, between being her parent and being…

My daughter, Jasmine, went to her first school dance when she was 16. It was the kind of night she had dreamed about and worked hard to reach, despite dealing with cystic fibrosis. She had prepared carefully, making sure her bronchial drainage treatments were done, her nebulizer…

My late daughter, Jasmine, was 16 when she attended her first school dance. For most teenagers, this would have been just another Friday night, involving some awkward slow songs and maybe a few embarrassing photos. But for Jasmine, it was something she had been dreaming about for years that I…

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,…