An Excess of Lemons
— Neil Genzlinger

Neil Genzlinger and his wife, Donna, have two children: Emily, a lawyer, and Abigail, who was born with Rett syndrome in 1997. Neil worked at The New York Times as an editor, a columnist for the Jersey section, a theater and television critic, and an obituary writer; he retired from a nearly 50-year journalism career in 2023. This column, with its proverbial title, will be occasionally inspiring, but also honest about difficulties and setbacks.

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Among its cruel talents, Rett syndrome is a thief of joy

At the International Rett Syndrome Foundation’s (IRSF) conference earlier this month in Minnesota, which I attended, there was quite a lot of talk in the scientific presentations about gene replacement, gene activation, gene silencing, and such. Also at the conference, there were quite a few young kids with Rett…

‘Spread the Word Day’ reminds me of our own encounter with the R-word

The service organization Best Buddies International has had a campaign going this month to “End the R-Word,” as the subject line in an email it sent out a few weeks ago put it. Best Buddies, which creates social and job opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, has been conducting this…

A song, an obit, and a special needs parent meltdown

My last job at The New York Times, where I worked in various writing and editing positions for almost 30 years before retiring in 2023, was as an obituary writer. Almost all of the hundreds of obituaries I wrote were assigned to me by editors, who reviewed the daily list…

What we’ve learned in 29 years as Rett syndrome parents

Our daughter, Abby, who has Rett syndrome, just turned 29. It’s the kind of number that makes a parent think, “Can that possibly be right?” And, “Good golly, we’ve been doing this for a long time.” Abby may or may not care about birthdays, but if she does, she’s…