Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
How To Be Invisible
Naomi tapped on Bertie’s bobble hat. “Look Bertie...” she said, pointing to a little black book under her arm. The young boy squinted, trying to make out the silver letters against the black fabric. “What is it?” He couldn’t tell what it meant, but he had a feeling that something good was going to happen. His elder sister never smiled unless she was getting something.
By Chloe Gilholy6 years ago in Families
Brown Girl Waiting
This Brown girl is waiting waiting for something that she never knew was possible she has a name but does that really matter? She has an age but does that matter either? This brown girl has been waiting for some thing that she will find that she never knew she needed. This brown girl her father passed away. She was only four years old, and from that time on this brown girl has had to live life without her father.
By Rasheeda Hampton-Johnson6 years ago in Families
How I got to Spend Christmas in the Snow in California
It was 1954, the war was over and people were finally starting to have fun again. I was only 6 and was unaware of the war time that my grandfather died in. I only saw him in pictures. He was a big strong man. Before the war he was a lumberJack. He built the house we lived in. My dad was his only child and my grandma died just a couple of years after him. Dad says she died the day the telegram arrived telling us that dad died. I never got to meet her either. My moms parents would come to visit every summer, when the weather was bearable, as grandpa would say. They lived in the lower 48, in the state of California. He always says he will take me to visit one day. But my mom said not until I was 16. That seemed like a lifetime at the time. We lived in a little town of Fairbanks Alaska. It was wild there. Dad would take me sometimes on the weekends to pan for gold. Once I found my own nugget. It was small, but still enough for me to open my own bank account. Got $36 in it too. I felt so rich, but dad said I could save it for when I go to California.
By Connie Sahlin6 years ago in Families
I Chose Not to Teach My Child to See Color
Children aren't born racist Children aren't born color-blind either. They can see color at a few months of age and soon start to develop the ability to categorize and group things. In a very natural way, they notice the difference in skin color among the people who interact with them.
By Lynda Coker6 years ago in Families
City of Brotherly Love
Concrete jungle. That’s what most people think of when they imagine an overpopulated city filled with the working poor. My mother was a master of the lost art form of making a dollar out of fifteen cents. She robbed Peter to pay Paul. Living paycheck to paycheck was the way of life you could set your watch by. Every first of the month, the lines would travel out the door at the local corner store as people handed over their food stamps for cash. That’s what most people think of when they think of my city, but that’s not where I grew up.
By That Writer Chick6 years ago in Families
Blanket
I was seven the first time I learned about death. The cold finality of it all surrounded me like a blanket, keeping me company the remaining days of my life. I remember the coffin, light blue with brass handles. The flowers—lilies, evocative of death—covered every possible surface filling the church with their strong, honey-laced aroma. I watched as the adults stood in hushed groupings going over the details of her demise.
By That Writer Chick6 years ago in Families
Christmas
It was Tom’s and my turn to host Christmas. Rather than our choosing which among our widely scattered family members we should visit, they came to us, here in Louisiana. My daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and even my sister came, all the way from London via Indianapolis, where she picked up our 90-year-old mother and escorted her to Louisiana on mom’s first plane ride in many decades. It was a sweet and fulfilling time.
By JANINA M FULLER6 years ago in Families
