humanity

Humanity begins at home.

My Fire
To the one who raised me, Your fire astounds me. Passion flows out of you like a quiet brook in the middle of a forest, elegant and calm. Even when I felt my own fire grow dim, you relit it with your own flame and pushed me onward. You've taught me how to let that light shine even when others find it blinding. How to use what I've been through to make myself stronger and more kind. It may have felt like it was the two of us against the world, but I know you had the only strength for the both of us.
By Miranda Bowron5 years ago in Families
Mom & Dad Showing Me How
I find it remarkable that I am still learning new things about my parents after they are dead and gone. Why is it that some truly remarkable things we don’t appreciate until we are much older? I remember as a young kid growing up with my three younger siblings we always had a housekeeper to help around the house and babysit us while mom and dad were at work. This was an odd situation in the late fifties as the moms usually stayed home while the fathers left us each day to go do their jobs.
By Doug Caldwell5 years ago in Families
Dear Momma
Dear Momma, A strong momma. A beautiful momma. Strong back, for carrying us through the trenches. Kissing our boo-boos and making us sandwiches for lunch.
By Michael J. Harris5 years ago in Families
I Thought this was Over(Code Lyoko): Prologue and Chapter 1: did that just Happen?
Author’s note, I had to combine the prologue with the first chapter because the prologue is very short. This story is a piece of fan fiction for the series Code Lyoko, all rights reserved.
By Ben Ray 5 years ago in Families
ASD Snapshot: An Arresting Speech
When Autism Speaks, We Listen The spring of 2016 sees Erik on Parliament Hill. He speaks to a crowd gathered to hear voices united for autism. He speaks for parents of children with autism when he says that their belief is like the Centennial Flame that burns on the Hill. It never goes out, just as our hope and our belief for our children burn brightly within each of us. Politicians, autism leaders, scientists, moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas and siblings wipe a tear as Erik speaks of his poppa’s belief and of the four words that have become his guiding light. When autism speaks, we listen.
By Teresa Hedley5 years ago in Families
Incorrigible
FADE IN: EXT. HOME GARDEN - DAY ROBERT is on his knees watering plants. He is wearing a LARGE SUN-HAT with a dot of sunscreen on his nose. He crawls over to a tomato tree. He plucks one of the tomatoes and smells it, then puts it in a small bag.
By NesManiaNetwork5 years ago in Families
Homeless Sweet Home
My last published piece here was an article written in 2019 about my experience of being hidden homeless in Ireland during one of the country’s worst housing crises in decades. At that time, my husband and I had been without a home for eighteen months and we were only housed at the start of this month, a blessing that we fought persistently for and which came at a time when there was not a shred of hope. It is everything we could ever have hoped for and yet I just can’t feel settled, relax, or feel like it’s ours. Being homeless does something to your brain, three and a half years of having no stable accommodation, the non stop scramble of trying to find somewhere to stay, tears, synapses constantly firing with no reprieve, cortisol pumping through your body - these things don’t just leave your system when you jot your signature on the dotted line. We feel so unbelievably lucky and are truly grateful for what we have, and yet there is an overwhelming fear that the rug will be pulled from under our feet, a residual effect of being on unstable ground for so long. We got something that amidst an ongoing and worsening housing crisis is like gold dust, a key to our own door, a bedroom to sleep in instead of a couch, a space that we can make our own and decorate as we like, and yet it does not feel real because our brains have been hardwired to not having a place to call home. If you’ve never experienced homelessness, the non stop scramble or trying to find a place to stay or living out of a suitcase, it’s extremely difficult to explain. I fear when I say these things that people might think we don’t appreciate what we have when people are living in tents and sleeping in doorways which is absolutely not the case. I feel a deep sadness and strange guilt when I pass people sleeping on the street that we have somewhere and our battle is over. Friends and family lovingly tell us we deserve this and yet I can’t bring myself to start unpacking, living in a space cluttered with boxes, because I fear that if we start to settle in, I’ll get a call to say we’re out. We have not rested or felt comfortable in three years and as a result my brain is in a learned state of constant readiness to pack up and go because that was my daily existence for years.
By Liz Wall5 years ago in Families
THE STORY OF LUKE
Many, if not most of us, have fond memories of our childhood. We laughed and giggled as we learned to swim in public pools, played kick-the-can during the summer months until dark and, during frigid winter months, sledded down steep hills, built snowmen, ice skated, or learned how to ski.
By Kimberly Shursen5 years ago in Families
It started and ended with Merlot
Start Five years. Five years since she’s felt a man’s touch, or a woman’s for that matter. It hasn’t been all that bad. She finally got back up, she learned about herself, what she likes and she gained her life back. It was lonely, but necessary. It wasn’t easy being with a man that required all of her attention and he knew nothing about her. She lost herself in him and his life. It started and ended with a bottle of Merlot.
By kathleen truglio5 years ago in Families
On being a father of eight
I’m thirty-four and I have eight children aged between one and fourteen. Most of my learning as a parent has been unexpected, and I’ve often felt like someone winning the lottery or performing CPR for the first time; in the twinkling of an eye I’ve faced brand new privileges that require responsibility that far outweighs my experience. Through all this I have discovered a hidden elixir perfect for surviving family life, especially crises, which I'll explain in a moment.
By Tim Boxer5 years ago in Families
April Fools.
!! SENSITIVE MATERIAL - TRIGGER WARNING !! It's coming up to that time of year again, where social media is full of April Fools jokes and pranks. Now don't get me wrong, I can have a laugh and I'd like to think that I'm a fun person, but nothing irks me more so than seeing someone post the phrases or words:
By Danielle Mills5 years ago in Families
Reflect. Reframe. Revive.
There are so many things people tell you when they find out you're having a baby. The cliche, well-intended advice comes by the truckload. Not surprisingly, most of it from people who have kids themselves.
By Jessie Waddell5 years ago in Families