![This 12-year-old wants to continue gender-affirming care. NC lawmakers are trying to stop it.](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CLT_dumasfamily_02-1-1080x675.jpg)
This 12-year-old wants to continue gender-affirming care. NC lawmakers are trying to stop it.
Mike Dumas has known since age 5 that he’s a boy. With H.B. 808, he and his family want to know why NC lawmakers are trying to interfere with his medical care.
![I’m Going to Meet Your Dad](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/meetyourdad2.jpg)
I’m Going to Meet Your Dad
Michael Howze was driving in uptown Charlotte one afternoon when he spotted a photo on a trolley stop that looked like his wife’s father. He didn’t realize he’d discovered one of the few remaining photos of Wardell Ellis Jr.
![The Shadow in the Doorway](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/shadow1.jpeg)
The Shadow in the Doorway
He was an honor student at West Charlotte, a football player, a shoe salesman, and a role model. In 2007, he was dancing at a birthday party when someone fired a deadly shot into the room. How does nobody know who did it?
![Letting go is so overrated](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lettinggo.jpg)
Letting go is so overrated
I’ve learned to accept my husband’s sentimentality (and the presence of his 1995 Toyota Tercel), even if sometimes, in my most deeply insecure moments, I can’t help but wonder if he’s only with me because he was nostalgic.
![As states try to restrict abortion, access is expanding in some parts of the South](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/5d1f830b8e2c5b1ef96dc07c_Screen-Shot-2019-07-05-at-1.03.53-PM-1080x675.png)
As states try to restrict abortion, access is expanding in some parts of the South
As states try to restrict abortion, access is expanding in some parts of the South
![Football could not save Chris Jacquemain and Tyler Campbell from painkiller addiction](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/pain-pill-campbelljpg-bccbcc48f22f3d61-1024x675.jpg)
Football could not save Chris Jacquemain and Tyler Campbell from painkiller addiction
Chris Jacquemain and Tyler Campbell were standouts on the Akron football team for a time. Then, each was injured, and their families say they became addicted to painkillers they were prescribed. Both overdosed and died. Could their deaths have been prevented?
![This year, my family’s Ukrainian Easter traditions are even more meaningful](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ukrainian1-1080x675.jpeg)
This year, my family’s Ukrainian Easter traditions are even more meaningful
In the wake of war in Ukraine and losing my mom just after Easter four years ago, I reflected on finding even more meaning in the art of making pysanky, Ukrainian Easter eggs.
![One Spunky Schnoodle: A mother and a daughter form an unexpected bond over a spirited pup](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/5ef3a059124968adf45c866c_mav-thumb.jpg)
One Spunky Schnoodle: A mother and a daughter form an unexpected bond over a spirited pup
My mom taught me the greatest gift as she said her final goodbye: the only way to let someone go is to show your love. It is something that helped guide me through my beloved schnoodle’s final months.
![He once hustled Michael Jordan and went to jail. Years later, Slim Bouler is still gasping for Air](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/slim1-1080x675.jpeg)
He once hustled Michael Jordan and went to jail. Years later, Slim Bouler is still gasping for Air
Slim Bouler once played golf and gambled regularly with Michael Jordan. Years later, he wonders why the NBA star isn’t trying to contact him to thank him.
![Motherhood: How some elite female athletes negotiated the desire to have a child](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/mother1.jpeg)
Motherhood: How some elite female athletes negotiated the desire to have a child
That desire to succeed in professional sports can be at odds with one factor that no woman can change or control: her biological clock. As more professional athletic opportunities have opened for women since the implementation of Title IX, more female athletes have had to grapple with balancing motherhood and a career that relies on the performance of the body. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
![A rooftop bar without a view: One Plaza Midwood building that tells a story of gentrification](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/BurialBeer_2-1-1080x675.jpg)
A rooftop bar without a view: One Plaza Midwood building that tells a story of gentrification
1214 Thomas Ave. has been an auto salvage company, a comic book shop and a clothing boutique. How Burial Beer came to own it through gentrification — and lost its skyline view in 15 months.
![Big Man on Campus, Part 1: St. Thomas More’s Ryan Fallon and Ian Stuart already feeling nudges toward St. Edward, St. Ignatius](https://jodievalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/BMOC1a.jpg)
Big Man on Campus, Part 1: St. Thomas More’s Ryan Fallon and Ian Stuart already feeling nudges toward St. Edward, St. Ignatius
The business of recruiting athletes is big, but did you know it begins as early as eighth grade? In Cleveland, these standout eighth grade football players are the Big Men on Campus as they wrestle with where to attend high school.