Entry 18: Father's Day Fog — Special Needs Fatherhood with Peter Marusca

Father's Day. It used to be a day of barbecues, bad jokes from Dad, and maybe a tie I’m sure my dad just humored me and wore. Now, staring down the barrel of my fourth one as a parent myself, it feels…different. This week I sit down with Peter Marusca — an oncology nurse practitioner, health & wellness coach, and founder of the Special Needs Dad Club — to talk about a side of fatherhood that rarely gets airtime: raising a child with a rare genetic condition. Peter's daughter was diagnosed with a rare Xq27 deletion that causes infantile spasms — so rare it doesn't even have a name yet. Peter opens up about the fear of that diagnosis, how it strengthened rather than strained his marriage, why he started the Special Needs Dad Club to build community for fathers navigating special needs parenting, and how his medical background both helps and complicates being a dad. It's an honest conversation about grief, protector instincts, dad mental health, and the surprising ways kids end up healing their parents. --- From the Studio This episode is part of Montessori Dad, produced by Story House. We believe story is a tool for meaning-making, not just performance. Leave a voice message or reflection The Letterbox I read every letter. If something in this episode landed for you, or raised something you're still sitting with, I'd love to hear it. Email me at: [email protected] Find the House Have a seat on the porch with us: http://storyhousestudio.org/welcome Support this work: http://storyhousestudio.org/community