immediate family

Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family.

Why Does Everyone Act Like the Eldest Son Is a God?
Let me paint you a familiar picture: the whole family is gathered. Someone brings up how well the eldest son is doing — usually a cousin. The doctor. The engineer. The boy who once cried because his charger broke, but now apparently holds the universe together.
By Tavleen Kaur9 months ago in Families
Three Hours in Emergency: Our Emergency Room Experience
Whenever my son comes down with a fever, I watch him like a hawk. I’ll be constantly taking his temperature, looking for more signs of illness, and wondering whether I’m over or underreacting.
By Sandy Gillman9 months ago in Families
Finding Real Help: My Search for Couples Therapy in Westchester, NY
If you're reading this, you're probably feeling some version of what I felt—not just a passing frustration with your partner, but something deeper. Maybe the conversations have stopped. Maybe the arguments feel too familiar. Maybe there's silence where connection used to be. I’m not a therapist or a counselor—I’m someone who lives in Westchester, New York, and who searched (with urgency) for real couples therapy that could help.
By Jonathan Riedel9 months ago in Families
How Children Truly Change Us: The Unexpected Journey of Parenthood
Becoming a parent is one of the most profound and transformative experiences in life. It’s not just about taking care of another human being, but about a true journey within ourselves one that radically changes who we are, how we think, and what truly matters to us.
By Maria Pilosu9 months ago in Families
CaucAsian
CaucAsian Part 2: A Taste of Home For most people, there’s a certain nostalgia that reminds us of home when we encounter specific things. It could be a sound or a smell or even a scenario. You hear it or smell it or see it and it brings you back to your childhood home for just a second. It is different for everyone. For me, the feeling comes over me whenever I walk into an Asian grocery store. Some combination of Asian languages being spoken and the smell of spices and seafood takes me back to my paternal grandparents house instantly. My grandfather was always cooking something. It’s a family joke that no one on my dad’s side of the family is ever full. They are always eating something and will always offer to feed guests repeatedly. A trait I inherited for sure. Whenever we would visit Grandpa’s house the first thing he did was feed us, and the last thing he did before we left was send food home with us. Indonesian, Chinese, and Thai food (or some fusion of all of them) are favorites. And there must always be rice. Always.
By Erin M9 months ago in Families
CaucAsian
CaucAsian Part 1 CaucAsian Complexion As I write this, the United States is in turmoil. Everything in this country is, at minimum, a point of contention, and on average, one political movement from casualties. The public and the politicians question and debate every topic from those that shape individualism to those that shape grocery purchases. It’s scary and it’s dangerous. In so many ways. Recently, I’ve found myself reminiscing about the way I grew up. I realize now how naive I was at the time to not have noticed how different I am. And what a wonderful gift it is to be different.
By Erin M9 months ago in Families
Think Like A Peanut
Think Like A Peanut I have never understood how my father’s mind works. I’ve been a daddy’s girl my entire life - I would even say my dad is one of my best friends. However, as close as we are, I have never been able to figure out how someone so funny and innocent and gullible can also be the strongest, bravest, and most profound person I’ve ever met. He has the capacity to take on what life has dealt him with a nonchalance that is simultaneously inspiring and irritating. We’ll be having a conversation, completely innocuous, and suddenly he says something completely off the wall about life or society or relationships; it comes out of nowhere - and it makes perfect sense.
By Erin M9 months ago in Families
Buried in Silence: The Children of Gaza
My name is Reem. I am ten years old. At least, I think I still am. We haven’t celebrated a birthday since the war started. Time doesn’t move the way it used to. Days blur into nights, and each one feels like the last day on Earth.
By Mian Nazir Shah9 months ago in Families
I Never Meant to Be a Nanny
I wasn’t one of those girls who dreamed of looking after kids. I never played house for fun. Never imagined myself waking up early to pack someone else’s lunch or sitting cross-legged on the floor explaining how fractions work.
By Judith Akabs9 months ago in Families
In Beijing's Huilongguan bus station, there's an old man carrying a syringe who asks everyone if they have AIDS.
Has anyone around you ever had AIDS? There’s this urban legend—one that’s spread worldwide—and I’m sure you’ve heard it too.
By MStory9 months ago in Families
Dad and daughter relationships perfectly explained in 10 paintings
The relationship between a father and daughter is a quiet kind of magic. It is built on bedtime stories, scraped knees gently bandaged, school projects, teenage silences, proud graduation tears, and the steady love that doesn't always need words. Artists, perhaps better than anyone else, have managed to capture this bond—visually translating emotions we often struggle to express.
By lonely girl9 months ago in Families
They Meant Well — But It Still Hurt
There’s a special kind of confusion that comes when the people who love you the most are also the ones who hurt you in small, invisible ways. Not because they want to — but because that’s the only language they know.
By Tavleen Kaur9 months ago in Families