Wellness Archives | Hamptons Mouthpiece

Beyond the Diagnosis: Autism, Research and Real Lives

September 29, 2026 In Hamptons Happenings 10 Mins Read

photo by Kurt Leggard,
Mark Biondi , Executive Director of Luv Michael, Dr. Dimitri Kessaris, co-founder Luv Michael
Lisa Liberatore, MD Founder, Luv Michael
Father Alexander Karloutsos, Pastor of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Cathedral.

What I Learned by Listening to Autistic Adults, Families and Researchers

I attended the Luv Michael conference with one goal: to listen. I wanted to better understand what families raising autistic children experience, what autistic adults want us to understand, and whether all the autism research we hear about is actually making a difference in people’s everyday lives.

I left thinking about something much simpler than genetics or laboratory research: independence. What does independence look like when going to the dentist can feel overwhelming? What happens when an autistic child becomes an adult? What if someone can speak beautifully in front of an audience, yet struggles privately with anxiety, sensory overload or completing everyday tasks? Most importantly, are we listening to autistic people themselves? Those questions stayed with me.

There Is No Single Autism Experience

One of the first things I learned is something we all need to understand: there isn’t one autism experience. During the research presentation, autism was compared to cancer in one specific way. Cancer is not one disease with one cause or one treatment. Autism is also incredibly diverse. Some autistic people live independently. Some need daily support. Some speak. Some are nonspeaking. Some have intellectual disabilities, while others do not. Some have additional medical conditions.

photo Kurt Leggard, Maria Kontaridis, PhD
Executive Director of MMRI

Researchers are increasingly looking at autism through a more personalized lens. Genetics may be part of the picture. Biology, development, environment and individual health may also matter. The increase in autism diagnoses is complicated, too. Greater awareness, broader access to services, changes in diagnostic practices and improvements in recognizing autism have all contributed to more people being identified. There is rarely a simple answer to a complicated question.

What Can Genetics Tell Us About Autism?

Autism can have a strong genetic component, but that does not mean scientists have discovered one “autism gene.” Researchers are studying many different genetic variations. Some may have relatively small effects, while rarer genetic changes can have larger effects. Some are inherited, while others occur spontaneously, known scientifically as de novovariants.

What surprised me was how much genetics can tell us and how much it still cannot. Genetic information may help researchers identify biological pathways, understand certain medical risks and give some families useful information. It cannot tell parents exactly who their child will become or predict someone’s personality, abilities, independence or future. It also cannot be used to simply blame one parent.

Environmental influences are also being studied, including parental age, premature birth, pregnancy complications, maternal health, certain prenatal exposures and air pollution. One point was emphasized: association does not mean causation.

The presentation also addressed vaccines. Current scientific evidence does not support vaccines as a cause of autism. Researchers continue to investigate infections, immune responses and other environmental factors that could potentially interact with genetic susceptibility. Some of those ideas remain hypotheses requiring much more research. I appreciated hearing that distinction. Science should be able to say, we don’t know yet.

A Trip to the Dentist Changed How I Thought About Accessibility

One of the simplest examples of the day may have taught me the most.

A dental professional described caring for an autistic patient who had difficulty tolerating a traditional dental appointment. Think about the experience: bright lights, unfamiliar smells, equipment noises, water, vibrations, someone touching your face and being asked to remain still. Many of us find the dentist uncomfortable. Imagine experiencing those sensations with heightened sensory sensitivity while struggling to communicate what is bothering you.

Photo Kurt Leggard, *David Forlano, DDS*

The dental team didn’t force the patient through a traditional appointment. They slowed everything down. One visit might involve sitting in the chair. Another might introduce the overhead light. Instruments, sounds, water and vibrations were introduced gradually. Some appointments were extremely short.

My first thought was how much patience that must require. Then I realized I was thinking about it the wrong way.

The patient wasn’t failing to adapt to healthcare. Healthcare was learning how to adapt to the patient.

That is accessibility.

Listening to an Autistic Adult Changed the Conversation

Photo Kurt Leggard, *David Cooke , Autism Advocate, Luv Michael Employee*

Research can explain a great deal. Hearing an autistic adult describe his own life gave the research meaning.

He spoke openly about executive functioning, anxiety, sensory overload and difficulty making decisions under pressure. He explained how someone can know that something needs to be done yet struggle to make their mind and body begin the task. He also described a period when managing his apartment, maintaining responsibilities and working became overwhelming.

What struck me was that many people meeting him might never recognize those challenges. He speaks for himself. He teaches. He advocates. He participates in his community. His disability can sometimes be invisible. That doesn’t mean the challenges disappear.

It also changed the way I thought about independence. We often describe independence as needing no help. Most of us rely on other people in some way. We call friends, ask family members for advice, hire people to help us and lean on our communities. Support does not erase independence. For some autistic adults, the right support can make greater independence possible.

The speaker talked about finding community and mentorship. He began teaching classes about things he enjoys, including Montauk, chess and board games. He also became an advocate, even speaking at a public meeting about housing and what independence means from his perspective as an autistic adult.

His voice mattered.

What Happens When Someone Cannot Tell Us What They Need?

He raised another question that has stayed with me: What about autistic people who cannot stand at a microphone and explain what they need?

He spoke about wanting to advocate for people with higher support needs, including nonspeaking autistic individuals and people who communicate differently.

Imagine knowing something hurts, feeling frightened or overwhelmed, yet not being able to put that experience into words other people understand. A behavior we interpret as “acting out” may sometimes be communication. It could mean pain, fear, sensory overload or simply, “Something is wrong and I don’t know how to tell you.”

That is why communication research matters. It is also why listening matters.

His Dreams Sound Familiar

Then he talked about his future. This was the part that brought everything together for me. He wants to work and support himself. He wants his own apartment. He hopes to meet someone, get married and have a family. Those aren’t unusual dreams. They are the same hopes many people have for their lives.

Autism does not erase someone’s desire for love, purpose, belonging, meaningful work or a home of their own. The question becomes whether our communities are creating enough pathways for those dreams to become possible.

This is where the work of Luv Michael became even more meaningful to me. Employment is more than a paycheck. Work can provide routine, responsibility, confidence, friendships, purpose and belonging.

Photo Kurt Leggard, *Chef Jack Formica, Jenna Carballo, resident of Luv Michael, Lisa Liberatore, MD Founder, Luv Michael*

There was also a real sense of community throughout the day. Dormition of the Virgin Mary Cathedral, a faith-based partner of Luv Michael, helped provide a welcoming space for the event. The kitchen did an amazing job, and the food was amazing. Everything was prepared fresh by the chef that day and served with care. It may seem like a small detail in a conference centered on autism, research and independence, but hospitality matters. Sharing a meal has a way of bringing people together, and that warmth was very much part of the experience

Families are also thinking about questions that many of us may never have considered. What happens after school? What happens when parents get older? Where will my child live? Will they have friends? Will they have meaningful work? Who will understand them?

Those aren’t abstract questions. They are questions about someone’s future.Autism Research Has to Follow Children Into Adulthood

Historically, much autism research has focused on children. Autistic children grow up.

Researchers are increasingly examining adult health, housing, employment, communication, relationships, safety and aging. They are also studying medical issues that may occur alongside autism, including gastrointestinal problems, sleep difficulties and epilepsy.

Researchers from the Masonic Medical Research Institute, or MMRI, also shared some of the work happening in their laboratories. Scientists can take cells from an individual and reprogram them into stem cells, which can then be developed into different types of cells for study. Researchers can create three-dimensional structures called brain organoids, laboratory models that allow scientists to study aspects of how brain cells develop and communicate.

If researchers identify a particular genetic change, they may be able to study how that change affects cells and biological pathways. That creates another question: Can understanding what is happening biologically eventually lead to an intervention that improves someone’s life?

MMRI researchers discussed projects involving specific genetic mutations, possible interactions between environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility, the gut microbiome, adult quality of life, and PANS and PANDAS. The projects are very different, which reinforces one of the biggest lessons of the day.

There isn’t one autism question to answer.

When Does Autism Research Really Matter?

After listening to the presentations, I don’t think the goal can simply be finding another gene or publishing another study.

Research matters when it reaches people.

Can someone communicate that they are in pain? Can someone receive dental care without being traumatized? Can an adult find meaningful employment? Can someone live safely in their own home? Can families get better answers? Can a nonspeaking person have a reliable way to communicate what they need? Can an autistic adult grow older with dignity, support and choices?

Those are outcomes people can feel.

I Came to Learn About Autism. I Left Thinking About Humanity.

I did not attend this conference as a scientist, physician or autism expert. I attended as a journalist, a mother and a person who wanted to understand.

There is still so much I don’t know. There is also so much science doesn’t know. What became clear to me is that autistic people cannot be reduced to statistics, diagnoses or debates about what causes autism. They are children who grow into adults. They are employees, teachers, neighbors, advocates, sons, daughters, friends and community members. Some may need a little support. Others may need significant lifelong support.

Every person deserves to be seen. Every family deserves to be heard. Every person deserves the opportunity to communicate in whatever way works for them.

Research is important. Housing is important. Employment is important. Healthcare is important. Perhaps the most important thing we can do first is listen.

That is where understanding begins.

Real Talk. Real People. Real lives.

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other articles to read: https://hamptonsmouthpiece.com/luv-michael-real-families-and-a-community-that-said-yes/

In Mental Wellness

Don’t Let Anyone Steal Your Joy!

August 26, 2026 In Mental Wellness 8 Mins Read

A woman recently called me a “nasty misery” because I spoke up when she threatened our business and our ability to make money. For a moment, I let her words get to me. I questioned myself, replayed the conversation and wondered whether that was really how I came across. Then I remembered something I should have learned a long time ago: nobody gets to define me, disturb my peace or take ownership of my joy.

At 60, I’m finally understanding that protecting your joy doesn’t mean avoiding every conflict. Sometimes it means speaking up when something matters. Sometimes it means defending your family, your livelihood and everything you’ve worked hard to build.

Sometimes it means refusing to let somebody else’s insult become your identity. Sounds simple, right? It isn’t always. My petty side did show up. I thought, Who would say something like that about me?

Then I thought, Probably a nasty, miserable person.

Listen, I’m still a work in progress, but once I got out of my feelings, I started thinking about why she said it in the first place. If Protecting What We Built Makes Me a ‘Nasty Misery,’ I’ll Take It!

The woman who called me a nasty misery was a white woman, what people today might jokingly call a “Karen,” and she was attacking our business and, ultimately, our ability to make money.

That’s different.

This wasn’t simply somebody hurting my feelings or a disagreement that got a little heated. This was our livelihood. Something we’ve worked hard to build. I simply asked for a service that we were entitled to get. Apparently, that made me a “nasty misery.” At first, I questioned myself. Am I nasty? Am I miserable? Is that really how I come across? Then I had to catch myself. Wait a minute. I wasn’t miserable. I wasn’t looking for an argument. I was protecting our business and our ability to earn a living. There’s a difference. Once I understood that, the words started losing their power.

If protecting what we’ve worked hard to build makes me a nasty misery, okay. If speaking up when someone threatens our ability to make money earns me that title, I’ll take it.

What I’m not going to do is allow somebody to attack our livelihood and then use a label to make me feel guilty for defending it.

The more I thought about the experience, the more it reminded me of another conversation I’ve been having lately about microaggressions and what that word actually means.

Microaggressions aren’t simply someone being rude. They can show up through subtle comments, assumptions and behaviors that communicate stereotypes or diminish someone because of who they are.

For Black women, there can sometimes be another layer when we advocate for ourselves. Be assertive and you’re angry. Ask questions and you’re difficult. Defend your business and you’re aggressive. Refuse to accept disrespect and somehow you’re the problem.

Apparently, I can now add “nasty misery” to the list.

Not every disagreement between a Black person and a white person is a microaggression. That’s important to say. But sometimes it’s worth asking why certain words are used, who gets labeled for speaking up and whether the same behavior would be described differently if someone else were doing it.

I know why I spoke up. I was protecting our business, our livelihood and what we’ve built; and yes, I would do it again.

I Ain’t Scared of You MF’s

Now let me tell you about Bernie Mac. If you know, you know. Bernie Mac walked onto the Def Comedy Jam stage and delivered the line that became legendary:

It was funny, fearless and unapologetically Bernie. Somehow, all these years later, it has become the Leggard family mantra. Not literally. We’re not walking around the house yelling it at people.

Well…not every day. But the meaning behind it? Absolutely.

For me, it means I’m not scared to speak up. I’m not scared to protect my family or what we’ve built. I’m not scared to say no. I’m not scared to walk away, and I’m learning not to be afraid of being misunderstood.

Most importantly, I’m no longer interested in making myself smaller just so somebody else can feel more comfortable.

That’s not anger.
That’s knowing who you are.

Joy Can Exist Right Alongside Disappointment

This summer has reminded me of that. I’ve had some incredible moments. I’ve laughed, traveled, spent time with people I love, celebrated milestones and had experiences I will never forget. I’ve also experienced disappointment, challenges and sadness.

You probably have too. That’s life.

I think many of us spend years believing we’ll finally be happy when everything falls into place. When the kids are okay. When the money is right. When the business is thriving. When the relationship is good. When everybody around us is happy.

How’s that working out? Exactly.

If we wait for everything to be perfect before allowing ourselves to experience joy, we’re going to be waiting a very long time.

I’ve learned that joy and disappointment can sit at the same table. You can be worried about something and still laugh with your friends. You can be disappointed in someone and still wake up grateful. You can be going through some stuff and still dance when your song comes on. That isn’t pretending everything is okay. That’s living.

“Is This Worth Disturbing My Peace?”

This might be one of the biggest lessons I’m learning.
Everybody doesn’t deserve access to your energy.
Someone doesn’t like you? Okay.
Someone is talking about you? Let them talk.
Someone calls you a nasty misery?
Well, apparently you can own that too.

I used to feel like I had to explain myself. I wanted people to understand my intentions. I wanted to correct the story. I wanted to know what was being said about me and, if I’m really being truthful, probably who said it.

You know you’ve done it too.

Now I’m trying to ask myself one question before giving something my energy: Is this worth disturbing my peace?

More often than not, it isn’t, that doesn’t mean I won’t speak up when it matters. Protecting your peace doesn’t require you to become silent. There’s a difference between getting pulled into unnecessary drama and standing up for yourself, your family or your livelihood, at 60, I’m finally learning the difference.

“I’m Not Saving Joy for Later”

Turning 60 has made me think differently about time.

There’s more life behind me than there was when I was 30 or 40. I don’t say that with sadness. If anything, it makes the time in front of me feel more valuable.

I want to laugh loudly, travel, dance and have those long dinners with family and friends where everybody talks too much and nobody realizes how late it has gotten. I want to write stories that matter, meet interesting people and keep discovering who I am in this chapter of my life.

I want to live while I’m living, and maybe that’s what I’m really trying to say to you.

Don’t wait for your life to become perfect before you enjoy it. Don’t allow someone else’s opinion of you to become your opinion of yourself. Don’t spend three days replaying a three-minute conversation in your head. Don’t give somebody who doesn’t even like you that much control over your happiness.

Yes, somebody called me a nasty misery. For a minute, she hurt my feelings. Then I remembered who I am.

I’m a woman who loves hard, laughs hard and protects what matters to me. I speak up when something doesn’t feel right. Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I don’t. I’m still learning, still growing and still figuring out how to protect my peace without losing the parts of myself that make me me.

But one thing I know for sure:

I’m not handing my joy over to anybody else.

People are going to talk. They’re going to judge. Sometimes they’ll misunderstand you, and every now and then somebody might even come up with a colorful new name for you.

Let them. Just don’t give them your joy too. That belongs to you.

So, yes, I think I’ll keep “nasty misery.” I’m starting to like her. She speaks up when she needs to, protects what she’s built and then gets right back to enjoying her life; and when she needs a little extra courage, she has the Leggard family mantra, courtesy of the late, great Bernie Mac: “I ain’t scared of you MF’s.” Neither am I.

Life is too precious and time is moving too fast. Love your people. Protect what you’ve built. Laugh whenever you can. Dance when your song comes on. Whatever you do, don’t let anybody steal your damn joy. As always, Real Talk, for Real People.

In Beyond the East End Event

Dr. Chester Pierce: Understanding Microaggressions

August 21, 2026 In Beyond the East End Event 9 Mins Read

Nearly 60 years after Dr. Chester Pierce gave us the language of microaggressions, we’re still using it because we’re still experiencing them. Maybe understanding the man behind the word can help us better understand one another.

I thought I understood the word microaggressions. Then I watched LIMITLESS: The Dr. Chester Pierce Story and sat down with director and producer Gloria Respress-Churchwell during the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.

LIMITLESS
The Dr. Chester Pierce Story
photo credit: Butter Pecan Productions

Dr. Chester Pierce was a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and physician, athlete, researcher, educator, mentor and humanitarian. His work took him from Harvard to Antarctica and even Sesame Street. Yet as impressive as his accomplishments are, I found myself thinking less about his résumé and more about the experiences that shaped the man.

What was it like to repeatedly enter spaces where he was the only Black person? How did those experiences influence his understanding of racism and human behavior? Most importantly, what can his work teach all of us today?

That’s where my conversation with Gloria became much bigger than a discussion about a documentary.

It became Real Talk for Real People.

Before He Named Microaggressions, He Lived Them

To understand Dr. Chester Pierce, Gloria told me, you have to understand his parents. His mother believed deeply in community and service, while his father worked at the Nassau Country Club and had limited formal education but tremendous awareness. People sometimes spoke freely around him as though he weren’t there. He listened, absorbed what he heard and brought those lessons home to his sons, helping them understand how to navigate spaces that weren’t always designed to welcome Black men.

All three sons eventually attended Ivy League schools. Chester chose Harvard.

Some of the lessons his parents taught had nothing to do with academics. Gloria shared that Pierce was taught never to pose for a photograph with his arm around a white woman. That may sound unimaginable today. For a young Black man of his generation, it was a lesson about safety. Those experiences matter when we consider the man who would eventually give us language for something many people experienced but couldn’t always explain.

What Exactly Is a Microaggression?

This was the part of my conversation with Gloria that I really wanted to understand.

I told her I’ve always struggled somewhat with the word micro. There can be nothing small about repeatedly experiencing something that makes you feel as though you don’t belong.

Gloria explained that blatant discrimination is usually easier to recognize. A racial slur is obvious. Segregation is obvious. A microaggression can be much more subtle. It might be a comment, assumption or behavior that communicates something about a person’s race or identity without anyone explicitly saying it. Sometimes you leave the interaction wondering:

Did that really happen? Did they mean it that way? Am I reading too much into it?

The person on the other side of the interaction may be thinking something entirely different:

That’s not what I meant at all.

That is where I believe we have an opportunity for conversation.

Understanding microaggressions doesn’t require us to assume that every uncomfortable interaction is racist, nor does it require us to assume that every person who commits a microaggression intended to hurt someone.

It asks us to consider something more nuanced:

Can our intentions be different from the impact of our actions?

Two People Can Experience the Same Room Differently

I shared something with Gloria that I’ve experienced many times. I can walk into a room filled almost entirely with white people and immediately recognize that I’m the only Black person there. A white friend can walk into that same room beside me and never notice. Neither one of us has done anything wrong. We’re simply experiencing the same room through different histories. My awareness comes from having spent a lifetime noticing when I’m the only one. My friend may never have needed to develop that awareness.

Pierce knew that experience well.

One image in LIMITLESS shows him with his Harvard football teammates. He is the only Black man. During his junior year, Harvard traveled to the University of Virginia to play football in the Jim Crow South. Pierce encountered segregation that many of his teammates from the North had never personally experienced. His teammates could enter through the front. Pierce could not. When he was required to use another entrance, Gloria told me his teammates followed him.

I loved learning that.

They couldn’t experience racism exactly as Pierce did, but they could recognize that their friend was being treated differently and choose how they responded. To me, that’s an early example of something we talk about frequently today: allyship. Sometimes allyship isn’t knowing exactly what to say. Sometimes it’s simply deciding not to leave someone standing alone.

When a Small Moment Has a Larger Impact

This conversation became personal for me. My husband and I moved to Sag Harbor year-round to raise our daughters in 2001. We loved the community, but our experience also came with challenges. Our oldest daughter was one of only two Black students in her grade. In high school, she was earning grades in the 90s. When students were being considered for AP English, the teacher who would teach the class told us she couldn’t recommend our daughter because she would be the “weakest link.” I remember being confused.

If her grades demonstrated that she could handle the work, why wasn’t she considered ready?

I can’t tell you what that teacher intended. I don’t know what was in her mind, and I think that’s important to acknowledge.

I can tell you about the impact.

My husband and I worried that our daughter wouldn’t be supported in that classroom, so we decided not to place her in the class.

At the time, we believed we were protecting her. Looking back, I can also recognize that her classmates who took AP courses received academic preparation she didn’t have before entering college.

That’s one way I understand microaggressions today.

The moment itself may appear small to someone on the outside, but sometimes that moment influences a decision, the decision affects an opportunity, and the impact continues long after the original conversation has ended.

“I Didn’t See It”

One of the most difficult parts of talking about microaggressions is that another person may genuinely not see what you see. I’ve heard, “I didn’t see that.” Maybe they didn’t. The problem comes when “I didn’t see it” becomes “therefore it didn’t happen.”

There’s a difference.

Gloria and I kept returning to one word during our conversation: empathy. Empathy doesn’t require us to have identical experiences. It doesn’t even require us to immediately understand everything someone else is feeling.

It asks us to remain curious.

What happened?
Why did that affect you that way?
Is there something about this experience that I’m not seeing?

Those questions create room for conversation instead of immediately putting two people on opposite sides.

Racism, Mental Health and Resilience

Pierce understood that repeated experiences with racism could have psychological consequences, which made me wonder about something much more personal.

What did all of this do to him?

Gloria couldn’t definitively answer that question. Pierce wrote and spoke about racism, mental health and microaggressions, but she hadn’t uncovered much where he explicitly discussed his own emotional wounds. That left us wondering whether a Black psychiatrist of his generation would have felt comfortable publicly acknowledging that vulnerability.

We may never know.

What we do know is that Pierce continued moving forward.

I asked Gloria whether our celebration of Black resilience can sometimes cause us to overlook why that resilience was necessary in the first place.

Her answer offered an interesting perspective. Racism is something another person can do to you. Resilience is something you can control.

Pierce couldn’t control another person’s prejudice, but he could decide whether it would determine the boundaries of his life.

He became a physician and psychiatrist, conducted research in Antarctica, contributed to Sesame Street and mentored generations of people.

Still, resilience doesn’t necessarily mean an experience didn’t hurt.

It means you found a way to keep moving.

Why This Conversation Still Matters

Nearly 60 years after Dr. Chester Pierce gave us the language of microaggressions, we’re still using it because we’re still experiencing them.

That doesn’t mean we haven’t made progress.

Gloria pointed to mental health as one example. Conversations about therapy, anxiety, trauma and emotional wellness are far more open today than when Pierce entered psychiatry, including within Black communities.

There is also greater awareness of how our different backgrounds can shape the way we experience the same schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and social spaces.

Maybe the next step isn’t arguing over whether every interaction qualifies as a microaggression.

Maybe it’s becoming more comfortable asking questions.

Understanding a microaggression doesn’t require a white person to feel guilty for being white, just as sharing an experience with racism doesn’t require a Black person to prove what another person intended.

There is room between those two positions.
That room is where listening happens.
It’s where someone can say, “I didn’t realize you experienced it that way. Tell me more.”
It’s where another person can explain without automatically assuming the listener is incapable of understanding.
It’s where empathy begins.

That is what stayed with me after watching LIMITLESS: The Dr. Chester Pierce Story and talking with Gloria. Dr. Chester Pierce gave us more than a word. He gave us language that can help us talk about experiences that are sometimes difficult to see, explain or understand. Nearly six decades later, perhaps the goal shouldn’t simply be to decide who is right or wrong. Maybe we should start by trying to understand what the other person sees.

That’s a conversation worth having. Real Talk. Real People.

In Wellness

Food Safety in America: Are We Paying Enough Attention?

July 14, 2026 In Wellness 6 Mins Read

Food Safety in America: Every time we walk into a grocery store, we make dozens of assumptions without even realizing it. The lettuce looks fresh. The strawberries look ripe. The herbs smell exactly as they should. Most of us never stop to wonder if our food is safe.

Then a story like the nationwide Cyclospora outbreak makes headlines, and suddenly Food Safety in America feels much more personal. Questions begin to surface. How does our food get to the grocery store? Are the systems designed to protect us as strong as we believe they are? Who checks it along the way?

Health officials are investigating one of the largest Cyclospora outbreaks in recent years. More than 800 confirmed cases have been reported across 31 states, while thousands of additional illnesses remain under review. New York is among the states reporting a significant number of cases, and investigators are still working to identify the source. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, previous outbreaks have often been linked to fresh produce, including leafy greens, basil, cilantro, berries, and other fruits and vegetables. That does not mean people should stop eating healthy. It does remind us that Food Safety in America deserves more attention than it usually receives.

Cyclospora outbreak and symptoms

Food Safety Starts Long Before We Shop

Fresh fruits and vegetables remain some of the healthiest foods we can eat. Trust, however, begins long before we arrive at the grocery store.

Food travels a long road before it reaches our kitchens. A salad purchased on Long Island may include ingredients grown in California, Mexico, Central America, or several other places. Farmers grow the crops. Processing plants clean and package them. Distributors move them across the country. Grocery stores stock the shelves. Restaurants prepare the meals. Every step matters, and every person involved plays a role in Food Safety in America.

The same is true when something goes wrong.

Laboratory scientists test samples while epidemiologists search for patterns. State health departments interview patients to learn what they ate and where they shopped. Investigators trace supply chains that often stretch across several states and even international borders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration work with state agencies to identify contaminated products and alert the public before more people become sick. Most of this work happens quietly behind the scenes. That is exactly how we want it when the system is working.

Food recalls and food safety

The current outbreak raises an important question. Does Food Safety in America have the people, funding, and resources needed to respond quickly when an outbreak occurs?

The Department of Health and Human Services has undergone significant restructuring during the past year, including staffing reductions at several federal agencies. The administration says essential food safety programs continue and that frontline inspectors remain in place. Former public health officials and food safety experts have expressed concern that fewer experienced scientists, investigators, and support staff could slow outbreak detection and response. Both viewpoints deserve consideration because protecting the nation’s food supply should never become a political contest.

HHS restructuring

HHS Restructuring Announcement

Food safety affects everyone. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and everyone in between shop at the same grocery stores, eat at the same restaurants, and serve many of the same foods to their families. Safe food should never depend on political beliefs. It should be an expectation shared by every American.

Food Safety and Healthcare Are Connected

Another part of this conversation deserves just as much attention.

Millions of Americans are facing uncertainty about healthcare. Some have already lost health insurance. Others are struggling with higher premiums and rising out-of-pocket costs. Recent policy changes are expected to increase the number of uninsured Americans over the coming years. That reality changes the conversation about Food Safety in America because getting sick is only part of the problem. Being able to afford medical care is another.

Healthcare coverage

Health officials recommend seeing a healthcare provider if severe watery diarrhea continues for several days. They also advise asking specifically about Cyclospora testing because routine stool tests may not automatically include the parasite. The infection is treatable with antibiotics once it is properly diagnosed.

The advice sounds simple. Real life is often more complicated.

Someone without health insurance may think twice before making an appointment. A doctor’s visit costs money. Laboratory testing costs money. Prescriptions cost money. Many people wait, hoping the illness improves on its own. Others convince themselves it is simply a stomach virus that will pass in a day or two. Waiting can turn a treatable illness into a much bigger health problem.

Food safety and healthcare work together. One system is designed to prevent contaminated food from reaching our tables. The other helps us when prevention fails. Strong public health agencies and access to healthcare are partners, not separate conversations.

Trust Is the Foundation of Food Safety

Personal responsibility still matters. Washing fruits and vegetables under running water, practicing safe food handling, paying attention to recalls, and seeking medical care when symptoms persist are practical steps every family can take.

Food safety at home

USDA Food Safety and Inspection S

Consumers, however, cannot do everything.

Nobody can inspect an international food supply chain from a kitchen sink. Nobody can test a package of berries for microscopic parasites before serving dinner. Those responsibilities belong to the farmers, inspectors, laboratory scientists, healthcare professionals, and public health agencies working every day to protect Food Safety in America.

Perhaps the biggest lesson from this outbreak has very little to do with one parasite.

The story is really about trust.

We trust farmers to grow safe food. We trust inspectors to identify problems before they become widespread. We trust scientists to investigate outbreaks quickly. We trust health departments to tell us when something is wrong. We also trust that if we become sick, we can see a doctor without wondering how we will pay the bill.

Those expectations are not unrealistic.

They are the foundation of public health.

Conversations about Food Safety in America should not begin only after an outbreak makes national headlines. They should happen before the next recall, before the next investigation, and before another family finds themselves asking questions they never expected to ask.

Food safety is more than a headline. It is a promise we make to one another. Every family deserves confidence in the food they serve, the people protecting our food supply, and the healthcare system that cares for us when something goes wrong.

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In Wellness

What Does 60 Look Like?

June 28, 2026 In Wellness 7 Mins Read

Aging with Confidence and Purpose! This is 60!

What Does 60 Look Like? I’m writing this for me, for my friends, for the woman who hasn’t yet found her voice, for my daughters, and for every woman who quietly dreads another birthday because somewhere along the way she was taught that getting older meant becoming less.

Less beautiful.
Less relevant.
Less visible.

I don’t believe that anymore!

When I was a little girl, I had no idea what 60 looked like.

I assumed that by 60, I would be old. Really old. I pictured sensible shoes, shorter hair, long skirts, and someone who had already lived the exciting part of her life. My definition of 60 came from the women I knew growing up, especially my grandmother and my mother.

My mother, though, wasn’t a fair example. She had been sick for so many years that her illness aged her long before her birthday ever did. Looking back, I realize I never actually knew what a healthy 60-year-old woman looked like. I only knew what illness looked like.

Then I entered my 50s, and menopause humbled me.

My doctor had warned me years earlier, after I had my youngest daughter, that because my hormone levels had been unusually high during pregnancy, menopause might be especially challenging. He wasn’t wrong. There were days I didn’t recognize myself. My body was changing. My emotions were changing. For the first time in my life, I wondered if I would ever feel like “me” again.

Eventually, I did.
Not the old me.
A stronger me.

After my mother died in 2017 at the age of 69, I made a decision that changed my life. I wasn’t going to spend the next chapter simply growing older. I was going to become healthier. That was the beginning of my wellness journey. It wasn’t about losing weight or looking younger. It was about deciding how I wanted to live the rest of my life. I started eating differently, moving my body more, making sleep a priority, protecting my peace, and finally putting myself first. Looking back now, I realize this is the foundation of what 60 looks like for me, not chasing youth, but choosing health, strength, and purpose. I wrote about that journey in Putting Me First: How My Wellness Journey Began and Where It’s Headed, and I now understand it wasn’t just about improving my health. It was about reclaiming my life.

Something unexpected happened during that journey.

I started feeling younger.

Not younger because I was trying to turn back the clock. Younger because I finally felt comfortable in my own skin.

Now, as I prepare to celebrate my 60th birthday, there are days I look in the mirror and honestly feel like I’m 40. Some days I feel 30. The funny thing is, I have absolutely no desire to go back. Every decade has given me something the one before couldn’t. At almost 60, I know exactly who I am, and there is something incredibly freeing about that. When people ask me what 60 looks like, my answer isn’t about wrinkles or gray hair. It looks like confidence, peace, and finally feeling comfortable in my own skin.

The biggest surprise about getting older isn’t the wrinkles or the fact that losing five pounds takes twice the effort it once did. Trust me, that’s real. Some mornings I don’t feel like getting on the treadmill, but I do it anyway. Every now and then I look down and realize I’ve pushed the speed up to seven, and I can’t help but smile. Thirty-year-old me never imagined she’d be doing that at 60.

What surprises me most is how little I care about the opinions of other people.

One thing I’ve come to realize is that many women don’t actually fear turning 60. We fear how society will see us once we get there.

Ageism is real! Especially for women.

Somewhere along the way, we were taught that youth equals beauty and that every birthday somehow makes us less valuable. I think that’s one of the greatest lies we’ve ever been told.

I remember recently working at a company where I was the oldest person in the office, including the owner. Some people might have found that intimidating. I didn’t. I walked into work every day asking myself, “What can I learn today?” The younger employees taught me new technology, different ways of thinking, and skills I didn’t have. Instead of resisting change, I embraced it. Ironically, being willing to keep learning has put me in one of the strongest positions of my professional career. Age never became my limitation because I refused to let it.

I also think many women have experienced feeling invisible as they get older. We’ve all heard stories about men leaving longtime marriages for younger women, and whether we’ve lived that experience or not, it sends a message. It can make women wonder if beauty has an expiration date. Personally, I don’t believe it does. Sometimes I wonder if chasing youth has more to do with people confronting their own mortality than it does with beauty itself.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate.

For nearly 37 years, my husband has looked at me the same way. Almost every day he says, “Ness, you have beautiful legs. Show them.” Then he’ll remind me how beautiful I am. I never take those words for granted. They don’t define my confidence, but they remind me what love looks like. Real love doesn’t ask you to become someone else. It celebrates the person you’ve become.

Maybe that’s why I still love getting dressed.

I love style.
I love fashion.
I love walking into a room like I own it.

Not because I’m trying to compete with someone who’s 30 years younger than me, but because I genuinely like the woman I see in the mirror. That wasn’t always true. Learning to love the reflection staring back at me has been its own journey, something I wrote about in Real Talk: Loving What You See in the Mirror. Confidence doesn’t come from looking younger. It comes from finally accepting yourself.

Over the past few years, I’ve realized something else.

Youth isn’t a number.
It’s a whole mood.
It’s curiosity.
It’s purpose.
It’s waking up excited about what’s next.

It’s continuing to learn, to laugh, to dream, and to believe your best chapters may still be ahead of you. That’s exactly what inspired me to write Youth Is a Whole Mood.

Now, when I hear someone say a person died in their 60s, my first reaction is always the same.

“Wow… that’s so young.”
Maybe that’s because it is.
Or maybe it’s because our definition of aging has changed.

People are living longer. They’re healthier. They’re starting businesses, traveling, finding love, lifting weights, and reinventing themselves well into their 60s and beyond.

So what does 60 look like?

For me, it looks like confidence without needing anyone’s approval.
It looks like wisdom earned through experience.
It looks like resilience.
It looks like peace.
It looks like choosing myself without guilt.
It looks like still having dreams that haven’t been accomplished yet.
Most of all, it looks like freedom.
Freedom from comparison.
Freedom from unrealistic expectations.
Freedom from believing my value has an expiration date.

If my daughters take one thing away from this article, I hope it’s this.

Don’t be afraid of getting older. Don’t rush through your life because you think your best years are behind you. Your life isn’t measured by the number of candles on your birthday cake. It’s measured by how fully you choose to live. Maybe that’s what 60 looks like.

Maybe… it looks like me; and for the first time in my life, I can honestly say…

I like what I see.

Real Talk. Real People.