Allison Gilbert https://allisongilbert.com/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 My Two and a Half Centimeter Time Bombs https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/my-two-and-a-half-centimeter-time-bombs/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/my-two-and-a-half-centimeter-time-bombs/ When my mother was dying of ovarian cancer, I was twenty-five. Back then, now more than a decade ago, I took advantage of the kind of freedom I would never know again; not yet married, without children, I was able to put my life on hold and focus completely on the end of hers. I took time off from work, left my boyfriend alone in our apartment, and moved back home. Under the same roof...

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]]> 51 Days and Counting: My Journey to Prevent Ovarian Cancer https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/51-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/51-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ Back in April on this blog, I wrote about my ovaries. I wrote about my fear, that one day, the same tiny nuggets that allowed me to give birth to my two young children, might actually kill me. This is not hysterical, this is my reality. Ever since my mother died of ovarian cancer in 1996 — when she was just 57 years old — I’ve been on high risk medical surveillance. I’ve been watched....

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]]> 49 Days and Counting: My Journey to Prevent Ovarian Cancer https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/49-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/49-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ Last night, I went to a support group for women who have tested positive for BRCA1 and BRCA2. If you didn’t know the reason we were coming together, you would have thought we were gathering for a book club or PTA meeting. We look just like you, except there’s this one little problem with our DNA: a mutation that makes it more likely that we’ll develop breast and ovarian cancer. The meeting takes place once...

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]]> 44 Days and Counting: My Journey to Prevent Ovarian Cancer https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/44-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/44-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ Why now? Since I started writing about my journey into surgery, people have been asking me why I chose to do the surgery now. It’s a great question, of course, because it’s a decision I didn’t arrive at quickly or without a great deal of research; I’ve been grappling with it since my mother died of ovarian cancer 11 years ago. My doctor had warned me early on that I should remove my ovaries after...

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]]> 40 Days and Counting: My Journey to Prevent Ovarian Cancer https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/40-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/40-days-and-counting-my-journey-to-prevent-ovarian-cancer/ My public journey into surgery was inspired by a courageous young woman I’ve never met. I read about her, like so many of us did, in the New York Times. Deborah Lindner tested positive, like I have, for BRCA1, and decided to undergo a mastectomy to head off cancer before it had a chance to take hold. But in the process of ridding her body of breasts, she did so much more. By choosing to share...

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]]> Always Too Soon Q & A https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/always-too-soon-qa/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/?p=2843 Read a Q & A with Allison about writing Always Too Soon.

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]]> Covering Catastrophe Q & A https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/covering-catastrophe-qa/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/?p=2847 Read a Q & A with Allison Gilbert about her harrowing 9/11 experience and learn how all sales of Covering Catastrophe support the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

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]]> My Preventive Mastectomy – Staying Alive For My Kids https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/cnn-health-my-preventive-mastectomy-staying-alive-for-my-kids/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/cnn-health-my-preventive-mastectomy-staying-alive-for-my-kids/ I’m not a helicopter parent and my children would tell you I don’t bake cupcakes for their birthday parties. But I’d readily cut off my breasts for them — and recently, I did. Removing breast tissue uncompromised by cancer is relatively easy. It took the breast surgeon about two hours to slice through my chest and complete the double mastectomy seven weeks ago…Continue Reading

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]]> Is Underage Drinking Ever OK? https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/cnn-living-is-underage-drinking-ever-ok/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/cnn-living-is-underage-drinking-ever-ok/ Before dropping off his son at Colgate University a few days ago to begin his freshman year, New York advertising photographer Robert Tardio went on one last summer vacation with his family. While his wife and youngest son were out exploring the quaint streets of Montreal, Robert took his eldest, college-bound teen out for a beer…Continue Reading

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]]> Do Schools Share Too Much With Parents? https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/cnn-living-do-schools-share-too-much-with-parents/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/cnn-living-do-schools-share-too-much-with-parents/ Are schools creating a new breed of helicopter parent?  Teacher Terri Reh wants parents to monitor their children’s entire educational career online. “I post all my students’ responsibilities, their current and upcoming assignments, and timelines for every project they have,” says the teacher at Flagstaff Academy in Longmont, Colorado…Continue Reading

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]]> Geraldine Ferraro in Her Own Words https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/cnn-politics-geraldine-ferraro-in-her-own-words/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/cnn-politics-geraldine-ferraro-in-her-own-words/ I had the great pleasure to know Geraldine Ferraro, the first female major party vice presidential nominee, who died Saturday. We met during the writing of my 2006 book “Always Too Soon,” which chronicles the stories of prominent people who have lost both parents. Ferraro lost her father when she was 8 years old….Continue Reading

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]]> Prince William – Remembering His Mother on His Wedding Day https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffington-post-prince-william-remembering-his-mother-on-his-wedding-day/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffington-post-prince-william-remembering-his-mother-on-his-wedding-day/ Soon after Prince William told the world that he and Kate Middleton were engaged, we also learned that William had given Kate his mother’s sapphire and diamond ring. Of the ring, William said he was just making sure his mother didn’t miss out on the special occasion. “It’s my mother’s engagement ring,” he explained, “so of course it’s very special to me.” Getting married without your mom is hard….Continue Reading

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]]> The Dangers of Having a Baby After 35 – What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpo-the-dangers-of-having-a-baby-after-35-what-your-doctor-wont-tell-you/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpo-the-dangers-of-having-a-baby-after-35-what-your-doctor-wont-tell-you/ If you are over 35, you’re probably aware of the increased risks of having a baby. Older women are more likely to have miscarriages, c-sections, suffer high blood pressure, and develop gestational diabetes. Your child is more likely to be born too early, not weigh enough, have chromosomal birth defects (most commonly Down syndrome), and other serious, potentially life-threatening conditions. Women are familiar with these hazards because their doctors talk about them routinely….Continue Reading

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]]> Parentless Parents – Best Tools for Remembering Our Parents https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpo-parentless-parents-best-tools-for-remembering-our-parents/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpo-parentless-parents-best-tools-for-remembering-our-parents/ My dad would have been 73 in June. I often wonder what he would he look like if he were still alive. Would he still be working as an architect? Would he be traveling as much as he once did? My father died just three days after September 11th — his body, as I’ve shared here in earlier posts, was hijacked by a different kind of terrorist: Lung Cancer….Continue Reading

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]]> Parentless Parents – Remembering Your Dad on Father’s Day https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpoparentless-parents-remembering-your-dad-on-fathers-day/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpoparentless-parents-remembering-your-dad-on-fathers-day/ Father’s Day can be particularly challenging if you’ve lost your dad. I’m a mom of two young children, and my father passed away when my son, our oldest, was just 18-months-old. While I’ll be happily celebrating my husband and father-in-law this Sunday, part of me will also be grieving, even though it’s been nearly 10 years since my dad passed away….Continue Reading

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]]> Parentless Parents – Strategies for a Better Mother’s Day https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpo-parentless-parents-strategies-for-a-better-mothers-day/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpo-parentless-parents-strategies-for-a-better-mothers-day/ It’s often difficult to remember your mother and rejoice over your life as a mother at the same time. From nursery school on, we are trained to celebrate this holiday, first by making our parents cards out of construction paper and pipe cleaners, and later by buying them gifts. Our role as sons and daughters is clearly defined. And when we become parents, we also know what we’re supposed to do: receive all the attention...

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]]> Geraldine Ferraro: Personal Lessons from Another Parentless Parent https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpo-geraldine-ferraro-personal-lessons-from-another-parentless-parent/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpo-geraldine-ferraro-personal-lessons-from-another-parentless-parent/ I had the great pleasure of knowing Geraldine Ferraro during the writing of my book “Always Too Soon.” She was exceptionally generous with me, and she never wavered in her enthusiasm for my project. In the most personal way imaginable, her outlook changed my life. This is my tribute to her….Continue Reading

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]]> Parentless Parents – Why Writing About Grief Makes Me Happy https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpo-parentless-parents-why-writing-about-grief-makes-me-happy/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpo-parentless-parents-why-writing-about-grief-makes-me-happy/ Several weeks ago my new book, “Parentless Parents,” was published. This is the third book I’ve written that deals with mourning and loss. And while you might assume I’d be the last person you’d want to meet at a cocktail party, I’ve been told otherwise. I smile; I laugh. You might even call me “bubbly.” Each book I’ve written is the result of successfully pushing through an unwanted and unanticipated experience, and using that experience...

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]]> Parentless Parents – It’s My Birthday! https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpo-parentless-parents-its-my-birthday/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpo-parentless-parents-its-my-birthday/ Yesterday was my birthday, and here’s what I did: 7:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.: Got birthday cuddles from kids. Opened birthday cards. Received small presents. Got kids off to school. Kissed husband. Felt lucky….Continue Reading

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]]> Being a Parentless Parent -The Effect on You, Your Children and Your Marriage https://allisongilbert.com/2025/06/huffpo-being-a-parentless-parent-the-effect-on-you-your-children-and-your-marriage/ Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:15:01 +0000 https://www.allisongilbert.dev.cc/huffpo-being-a-parentless-parent-the-effect-on-you-your-children-and-your-marriage/ Both of my parents have passed away, and little has shaped the way I raise my children or affected the relationship I have with my husband and in-laws more than the fact that my mom and dad aren’t here to be grandparents to my children. I am a parentless parent. Because women are having babies later and later, the number of parentless parents in America is skyrocketing….Continue Reading

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