This is the hardest article I've ever had to write because it means putting my biggest secret on display for everyone to see and use to judge me. It's a secret I've guarded for years, a secret I've cried over, a secret I shouldn't be scared to share, but I am.
Are we getting greater titillation from our tech at bedtime than the lovers we lay next to? What has happened to the days of screen-free intimacy?
I asked Jennifer Krychowecky what she gave up during her nine-year journey caring for her mother, Linda Krychowecky, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 59. Her response was eye opening.
"Give me your definition of what it means to be a girl?" That is the question photographer Kate Parker asked 13-year-old Callen Swiegart between her football game and cotillion class.
I talked to Amanda and her mother and asked them what they felt they needed and would really appreciate on our special day together. Most important to Amanda was that she and her mother could be pampered at the same time.
Amanda, who served as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan, was injured not once but twice and is the recipient of two Purple Hearts. She is grateful to be alive and despite her injuries she heroically continues to serve our country in the Air National Guard. Both Amanda Martinez and her mom Deborah were nominated for a GLAM4GOOD day of pampering by The Bob Woodruff Foundation, a national non-profit that helps the well-being of post-9/11 injured service members, veterans and their families.
Sometimes it feels like girls have to act and look a certain way because it's what is expected of them, and if you don't act or look this way you will be judged. This pressure can cause insecurity.
Adelina Mateo was a once homeless mother of four, and her youngest daughter, Jazel, has autism spectrum disorder. After losing her job, Adelina was forced to move to a Brooklyn shelter with her family. Birch Family Services, an organization that provides education, habilitation, residential services to people with developmental disabilities, nominated Adelina and her daughter Jazel for Glam4Good.
