On any given afternoon Matthew Rankin can be found playing on the swings, running around his house with a plastic sword and even handcuffing his mother Lisa. You wouldn't know the 5-year-old Stamford boy has eosinophilic esophagitis, or EE.

“He is like every other child out there, until it’s time to eat,” Lisa Rankin says of her youngest son.

EE is a disease in which higher than normal amounts of white blood cells attack the esophagus, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s website says. The attacks are brought on by food allergies. Matthew’s allergies include wheat, dairy, soy ...

Three-year-old Max Ford of Norwalk has turned a life lesson into a toy-giving opportunity for needy children with disabilities. Max’s dad, Chris, and mom, Eileen Crispell Ford, used the children's book "The Dragonfly Door" to help Max understand death after the family experienced a number of losses recently, including that of a grandmother. The book explains death through the lifecycle of the dragonfly, which leaves its marsh home for dry land upon maturity, never to return to the family nest.

"Max now considers [those who have died] dragonflies," Eileen said. "He said, 'Let's ...

Cindy Freedman and Ailene Tisser are often well marinated — in chlorine. The therapist duo created Angelfish Therapy to bring aquatic therapy to children with special needs across Fairfield County.

Sitting out of the water at Norwalk's Courtyard by Marriott for a few minutes before starting a session, Freedman asks her partner, “Do you like marinating in that chlorine 35 hours a week?”

“I really do! Throw me on a grill — it’s the perfect recipe!” Tisser says, laughing, from the pool. She and Freedman spend hours every day soaking in the chlorinated waters as children swim ...

Fairway Market is saying thank you to its customers this weekend by holding a barbeque in the store's parking lot.

Dozens of vendors will be there to give away drinks, deserts, salads, grilled hot dogs, sausages. and even coupons. The Fairway table will offer fresh mozzarella and bread dipped in olive oil.

In addition to the food, there will be raffles, t-shirts, hats, and other prizes as well.

The barbeque is free to attend and will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 14.

Is your company or organization holding an event in Stamford? ...

Linda Kennedy has no plans to retire any time soon, despite the fact that she will, in fact, retire in the next couple of years. “I’m not one to sit at home watching TV,” she says. “I like to be busy.”

Linda has planned for her retirement as a paralegal in Stamford by starting a new career in real estate. “I grew up with houses: my father was a builder in Stamford,” she says. She’s also done quite a bit of construction herself, working as a general contractor for a project in Darien and building two houses. She calls herself a Jack-of-all-trades and is proud of the fact ...

Annaliese Sehulster and about 10 other Stamford High School students walked across Strawberry Hill Avenue to help Ganga Duleep plant a medicinal and aroma garden at the Tully Health Center.

“Medicines can be all of the other treatments or it can be something like this,” Sehulster, a senior, said as she dug a hole to plant elderberries, which contain large amounts of Vitamin C and antioxidants.

The high school students were from the Recycling Club and health classes. Stamford High sophomore Jonathon Roperto planted Chewing Gum Mint, which has Vitamin A in it. He wants to ...

Each summer thousands cram Columbus Park in downtown Stamford every Thursday night for the Alive @ Five concert series, and this year’s series promises to be one of the best ever. Downtown Stamford Special Services District announced this year’s headline acts.

The June 23 kickoff concert features alternative rock group Third Eye Blind, one of the hottest bands in the country. Rapper M.C. Hammer takes to the stage July 7, and it concludes Aug. 4 with the B-52s. The other acts include Lee DeWyze on June 30, Dennis DeYoung: the Music of ...