What I lost when I stopped drinking

Also: No one knew my son was blind [View in browser](    [❤️]( February 5, 2023 Dear Cog reader, When we first read Rachel Bennett’s submission about her son Henry, none of your Cog editors were familiar with cortical/cerebral visual impairment, otherwise known as CVI. It's a neurological disorder, most common in babies and young children, that affects the brain's ability to process vision. We debated, internally, whether our audience would be interested in reading an essay pegged to such a specific disability. Then we realized that Rachel’s (and Henry’s) journey to a diagnosis is an all too familiar one; millions of parents are similarly thrust into the position of advocating for their children with physical, mental or emotional differences. In many ways, Rachel’s experience is universal, even if the circumstances of her specific story are almost hard to believe. From the very beginning of Henry’s life, something seemed off. He didn’t recognize her when she walked into a room, and he wasn’t interested in books or toys. They spent years “navigating a gauntlet of medical providers, specialists, MRIs, ER visits and new diagnoses,” with no clear answers. Even Henry’s pediatric ophthalmologist thought his vision was fine, attributing Henry’s challenges to attention and behavioral issues. It wasn’t until he turned 5 years old that they were finally able to get the correct diagnosis. “All those years, Henry was struggling with visual attention and visual recognition, which prevented him from accessing and understanding the world around him,” [Rachel writes](. “A busy environment, a hot day, or feeling tired could make using his vision nearly impossible. We know this now.” Of course, Rachel wishes they’d gotten his diagnosis sooner — it would have saved literal years of heartache. But now that Henry is getting the right interventions and supports, as well as access to educational programming, he’s thriving. Rachel has found her calling, too, as an advocate. She completed UMass Boston’s CVI certificate program in 2020 and now works as the assistant director of the CVI Center at Perkins School for the Blind. She's making good on her hope that Henry, and kids like him, can live with "agency, joy and belonging." One more thing before I go: Some 9 million Americans participated in a “dry January” this year – meaning, no alcohol for the month. Whether you went completely dry (well done), damp (that’s me) or are simply curious, Erica Youngren’s [essay]( this week is a must read. Long-time Cog readers may remember Erica’s 2021 essay about discovering, mid-pandemic, that she had a [drinking problem](. Her piece this week is about what happens after you give up the drink, in a world where people around you are still partaking. “Perhaps it’s not just alcohol I’m trying to control, but the passage of time," she writes. "Every day, I’m working to make up for what feels like 'lost' years that were not lost at all but consumed with building and nurturing a family. I’m trying to grow." Until soon, Cloe Axelson Senior Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [Until he was 5, my son lived in ‘a world where no one knew he was blind’]( My son Henry is a child on the blindness spectrum who makes others feel seen, writes Rachel Bennett. Still, I constantly wonder what could be different now, if we’d found the right resources sooner. [Read more.]( [Until he was 5, my son lived in ‘a world where no one knew he was blind’]( My son Henry is a child on the blindness spectrum who makes others feel seen, writes Rachel Bennett. Still, I constantly wonder what could be different now, if we’d found the right resources sooner. [Read more.]( [What I lost when I stopped drinking]( Why did I feel like I was breaking bad news to my friends when I announced that I was trying sobriety? asks Erica Youngren. [Read more.]( [What I lost when I stopped drinking]( Why did I feel like I was breaking bad news to my friends when I announced that I was trying sobriety? asks Erica Youngren. [Read more.]( [Not 'Spot,' not 'Fido': She's 'Billie' — and she's enoughÂ]( The more time we spend together, the more I realize that I can love Billie, our dog, without assigning her feelings drawn from my human repertoire, writes Julie Wittes Schlack. [Read more.]( [Not 'Spot,' not 'Fido': She's 'Billie' — and she's enoughÂ]( The more time we spend together, the more I realize that I can love Billie, our dog, without assigning her feelings drawn from my human repertoire, writes Julie Wittes Schlack. [Read more.]( [Pay no mind to the former president in your social media feed]( In the early days of the Trump presidency, Gina Kaufmann worked as a public radio journalist in Missouri. The days' headlines provided a constant soundtrack, and that soundtrack was dominated by Donald Trump. [Read more.]( [Pay no mind to the former president in your social media feed]( In the early days of the Trump presidency, Gina Kaufmann worked as a public radio journalist in Missouri. The days' headlines provided a constant soundtrack, and that soundtrack was dominated by Donald Trump. [Read more.]( [Do selfies celebrate our individual selves — or remind us of our own insignificance?]( Seeing a photograph of early-pregnancy matter got Jeremy Gerard thinking about the directives of a 19th century Jewish fable he learned as a kid: “I am a speck of dust" and "The world was created for me." [Read more.]( [Do selfies celebrate our individual selves — or remind us of our own insignificance?]( Seeing a photograph of early-pregnancy matter got Jeremy Gerard thinking about the directives of a 19th century Jewish fable he learned as a kid: “I am a speck of dust" and "The world was created for me." [Read more.]( What We're Reading "Proponents of this new science believe that experiencing awe may be an essential pathway to physical and mental well-being. By taking us out of ourselves and expanding our sense of time, it counteracts the self-focus and narcissism that is the root of so much modern disenchantment." "[Finding Awe Amid Everyday Splendor]( Noema. "It's called the 'Garden of Grace.' It's already been used more than anyone would like." "[When gun violence ends young lives, these men prepare the graves]( NPR. "We tend to believe body size is something we can fully control, that we’re skinny or fat because of deliberate choices we make ... Reality looks a lot less like free will." "[What New Weight Loss Drugs Teach Us About Fat and Free Will]( The New York Times. "Billie is training me more than I am training her – not just in how to feed her, but when I’m lucky, in how to be a bit like her, an animal, un-self-conscious but keenly aware." — Julie Wittes Schlack, "[Not 'Spot,' not 'Fido': She's 'Billie' -- and she's enough]( ICYMI [Grief doesn't have to be so lonely]( After losing her mom, Holly Robinson felt very alone in her grief -- nobody wanted to talk about it. But not talking about grief makes you feel heavy, she writes, like you’re moving through deep water and your ears are clogged. [Read more.]( [Grief doesn't have to be so lonely]( After losing her mom, Holly Robinson felt very alone in her grief -- nobody wanted to talk about it. But not talking about grief makes you feel heavy, she writes, like you’re moving through deep water and your ears are clogged. [Read more.]( If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news     Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here.](  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2022 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.