Author Archives: Kevin Schaefer

Defying Monotony in Life With SMA

“Hello, Peter. What’s happening? Umm, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in tomorrow. So, if you could be here around 9 that would be great. Mmkay? Oh, oh, and I almost forgot, ahh, I’m also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday,…

A Power Outage and a Frozen Ramp

Here in North Carolina, the weather fluctuates between springtime warmth on Christmas Day to freeze-your-butt-off cold a couple days later. We sometimes get all four seasons in the span of a few weeks, but it’s the wintertime that requires the most preparation. It forces…

Tick, Tick … SMA Adulthood

In the new Netflix original movie, “Tick, Tick…Boom!,” Andrew Garfield plays the late playwright and composer Jonathan Larson, whose most famous work is the Broadway musical sensation “Rent.” The film is based on Larson’s autobiographical musical of the same name. It’s a story…

The Human Side of the Internet

“The internet is a well of humanity if you dig past the surface of it.” Comedian, actor, and filmmaker Bo Burnham said this in 2019 during a writers panel hosted by The Hollywood Reporter. Burnham got his start making YouTube videos in the early 2000s, back when…

Celebrating an Unexpected Birthday

I turn 28 on the day this column goes online. Though I thought it’d be fun to publish something on my birthday, I realize that 28 isn’t a particularly special number. It’s one year closer to 30, and it feels like an eternity from the legal drinking…

‘Ordinary Joe’ Is Anything but Ordinary

When we think about key moments in our lives, such as weddings and graduations, most of us have a tendency to wonder how things might have turned out differently. We’ll wonder what might have happened if we’d chosen a different career path, pursued a certain relationship, or moved to…

Embracing a New Chapter in Life With SMA

The worst part about long-running sitcoms is when they hit so close to real life. This is especially true when everyone’s favorite characters leave. Think about when Michael left “The Office,” or when Chris and Ann left the town of Pawnee in “Parks and Recreation.” These moments…

Milestones Are Different With SMA

I woke up to a Facebook notification inviting me to a group for my high school reunion. It dawned on me that next year will mark a decade since I graduated. Factor in a pandemic, and it feels more like several decades since I crossed the stage in June…

SMA Pride and Disability Language

I was wrapping up a week of vacation when I came upon a flood of posts on my Instagram feed about “SMA Pride Month.” Though August is traditionally recognized as SMA Awareness Month, a group of SMA activists and influencers feel it’s important to rebrand the name. By calling…