family
Family unites us; but it's also a challenge. All about fighting to stay together, and loving every moment of it.
Dearest Dotti
Dear Dotti, 14 years have passed now since we saw your face. 14 years since we held you close in a warm embrace. 14 years since you laughed and smiled but your legacy goes on. We will continue to tell your story, now and forever. After all, there are so many of us.
By Bree Beadman5 years ago in Humans
The truth behind my strength
When I first read the sister circle challenge I wrote about how I didn’t really have a female role model or wasn’t inspired by one. So with the first draft I made I sent it over to my best friends (which are surprisingly all female friends) so they could read it and tell me what they thought about it. One of them, that has been my best friend for over 10 years, gave me a hard pill to swallow. She knows me better than anyone in my life, I think at this point she knows me better than I know myself. Harshly and without mercy, she expressed that it sounded like I was an egocentric cow, but in much nicer words... That made me step back and realize that I was not transmitting the message I wanted to send. So I went back to my rough draft and read it all over again from a fresh perspective. And even though it inspired me because I knew what my point was, I wasn’t sending the right message. So as I was reading it again for the fifth time I realized how ungrateful I sounded.
By Raquel Soriano5 years ago in Humans
My dad, a Blockbuster, and acceptance
It took me all of my teen years and my early twenties to finally realize who I was—a self realized adult who is bisexual. I only had crushes on boys in elementary school, one of whom I’m with today(going on ten years plus now!), and I didn’t have crushes on any girls until the beginning of high school.
By Melissa Ingoldsby5 years ago in Humans
Dear Amos-Paymos, Who Doesn’t Make Her Payments
Dear Amy, Do you remember that weird nickname your dad gave you? Or the other one, Amos-Moses? Randomly tacked on one evening by a man deep in his cups, it made no sense to you. But he was in a rare jovial mood when he blurted out the slurred acknowledgment as you made an equally rare pass through the living room. You turned and happily responded to the new name. You would have given anything for him to see you. To be able to crawl up in his lap.
By Amy Willard5 years ago in Humans
Of My Father’s Vineyard
“The blood of grapes is the life of man.” I looked up towards my father’s worn, bearded face. He was a stern man, sun stained and leathered from his toils in the vineyard and, despite his earthy labor, his clothes were seldom blotched with soil or juice.
By Taylor Drake5 years ago in Humans
Stranded at the Petrol Station
The lights are brighter than they had any right being. I wish the environment was more sensitive to my feelings because I’m going through a lot right now. Everything is blurry due to the tears in my eyes. All I can comprehend are the flashes of color from the poor passing patrons wondering what has this sixteen-year-old so emotional. There is no sound, only the yelling of my thoughts. “Was I not worth it?”
By Kiana Hitchcock5 years ago in Humans
The Winter Storm That Turned Texas upside Down
As a Texas resident who has moved here from the Midwest, I have had my share of snowstorms and power outages in the past, however, I have never been through anything like what I and the other residents experienced in the past 5 days. The temperatures were at record lows, everything is frozen outside and my other half is stuck at work this entire time. Needless to say, I was stressed and scared, but resourceful. What started as a snowstorm quickly escalated into an event that would not only test my resilience but also my survival skills. This storm showed me exactly how strong I am. During the five days, we were will out power for 2 and half days and without running water for 3 days. On the first day, I cooked using the BBQ grill. It was freezing outside but it wasn’t so bad while standing over the grill. My son watched me from the living room window as I drug the grill from the patio further away from the building, in 2 to 3 inches of snow. I remember thinking to myself, “This isn’t so bad, but I couldn’t do this every day. At least my son got a hot meal tonight. “as I cooked my son and me a few burgers each. I had just enough bottled water to get through the storm for us to drink, clean, and bathe with. As the days went on, the city began to rotate the power between the neighborhoods so when the power came back on, I would run the kitchen and began cooking like I was competing on Master Chief and I got Chief Gordon screaming at me. I would cook something quick because I had no idea how long the power would be on and I feared having half cooked food and no where to put it. I would boil water so could wash my dishes and clean my kitchen after I cooked. This is how we got through, but we got through.
By Ashley La'Donn5 years ago in Humans
Unfurled
10/22/18 Daniel was standing on his toes to see over his classmates’ heads as his sister pulled up into the school parking lot. She had promised to pick him up during recess to go home early and go get ice cream. She always took him out for ice cream on his birthday. Ice cream with Alyssa was always the highlight of every birthday. Although, when he thought about it, any time with his sister was bettter than any time without her. His classmates yelled and giggled around him, enjoying their recess. But Daniel just waited on his tiptoes, tracking his big sister across the parking lot. When she finally got close enough, he waved his arms around and called to get her attention, but she just laughed and told him to wait just a few minutes so she could sign him out at the front office. About 347.5 seconds later (yes, he counted), she finally came into the playground area to come collect him. This was the part that was better than the ice cream: being able to run at Alyssa and feel her arms around him like she would never let him go. He never liked being alone. It scared him.
By Emery Pine5 years ago in Humans
