For Jessica

When I first wrote "For Jessica" in the summer of 2010, I posted it to my blog as a way to express to my friends what was happening in my life, to my daughter, who suffers from a terrible neurological disease called tuberous sclerosis. At the time I wrote the essay, I had just learned that she had been diagnosed with a degenerative spinal cord disorder.

When things are this overwhelming, I find it hard to talk to people on the phone or in person. I just want to be alone.

But my friends needed...