Elizabeth Mehren

Author, journalist, BU professor

Somehow I cannot bring myself to press “like” when the subject is loss.

Somewhere between my brain and my keyboard, the sorrowful shout-out seems to get stuck. Grief to me has never been an occasion for public clamoring.

Facebook Sympathy: Offering Old-School Condolences In An Online World

Somewhere between my brain and my keyboard, the sorrowful shout-out seems to get stuck. Grief to me has never been an occasion for public clamoring. (Kate SERBIN/Upworthy)

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Life

Type 1 diabetes is an incurable, inherited autoimmune disease that dooms its victims to an eternity of insulin injections and a life expectancy shortened by seven to nine years.

In this photo taken Wednesday, May 13, 2015, Weston Murphy, 5, who has Type 1 diabetes, pricks his finger to test his blood at his home in Plainfield, Ill. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

We spent those first dreadful months waking [our son] every two to three hours at night to administer finger-prick blood sugar tests.

CommonHealth: Nearly 100-Year-Old Vaccine Could Help Type 1 Diabetics

The Importance Of Getting It Right In Diabetes Reporting

Weston Murphy, 5, who has Type 1 diabetes, pricks his finger to test his blood at his home in Plainfield, Ill. on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. About 1.25 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes. Type 2 disease is more common, affecting nearly 30 million nationwide. Besides short-term complications from poorly controlled blood sugar, both types raise long-term risks for damage to the kidneys, heart and eyes. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

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Health

Media

Opinion

family

Thank you for telling me that sisterhood was powerful. Thank you for your courage in fighting, unceasingly, for choice.

Never, never, ever, ever, ever did we say 'this is a great way to meet guys.' Or, 'cover the presidential primaries because there will be a bunch of cool dudes around.'

With A Day To Go Before Voting, Candidates Storm New Hampshire

An Open Letter To Gloria Steinem, Who I Admire, And Who Should Have Known Better

Elizabeth Mehren: "Come on, Gloria. As feminists, we are useless if we have not learned to mature." Pictured: Gloria Steinem at her home in New York in October 2015.  (Seth Wenig/AP)

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Politics

Election 2016

...my husband and I tried to watch the most recent GOP presidential candidates’ debate. ...We lasted maybe five minutes...

A little decency, my friends, could go a very long way.

When Charlie Met Marty: A Political Bromance As Antidote To Partisan Toxicity

Charlie Baker, right, greets Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as he enters the House Chamber at the State House in Boston on Jan. 8, 2015 for his inauguration as governor of Massachusetts. (Elise Amendola/AP)

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Get it all out there. Spill out every single detail of every single thing that happened. Then put it aside. Come to your senses. Tear up that first effort and touch only on the highlights.

Notes From The Holiday Mail Bag: The Art And Artifice Of The Family Newsletter

Elizabeth Mehren: "Do you really want to read the annual report of Paul and Polly Perfect, filled with the amazing successes of their perfect children, Peter and Priscilla?" (Lotus Carroll/flickr)

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'Did you plant St. Joseph like I told you?' Marie asked when I told her my house had generated zero interest in three weeks on the market.

Elizabeth Mehren: “Would St. Joseph work for heathen homeowners like me and my husband?” (Jeff Hester/flickr)

Pray to him daily, and once he works his magic, dig him up and place him in a position of honor in the new home.

Praying For A Home Sale, With A Little Help From St. Joseph

Home seller Diana Grammont of Lexington, Mass., gets ready to dig a hole in her front yard to bury a statue of St. Joseph. The belief that St. Joseph helps homeowners sell their homes traces back to St. Theresa of Avalon, a nun in the 17th century who buried a coin of the saint and prayed to him for help in getting land for monasteries. When the ritual worked, the practice spread. (Elise Amendola/AP)