Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Mom’s Stack of Little Black Moleskine Books
Mom’s stack of little black Moleskine books had been packed in that dang box ever since she’d passed away. I could hardly bear to look at them, though I knew at some point I’d have to. I was curious, for sure, but afraid of what I might find written there, and just break down and cry. My grief was too much to bear.
By Renee Shaw6 years ago in Families
How to Talk so Your Kids Will Listen;
The best method to get our kids attention is let them have our attention. Does that sound a little counter intuitive? This story was taken from the memoirs of two teachers who were instrumental in influencing change by enacting simple, small techniques with their teaching practices. In a rural town a certain grade of children was disruptive and disrespectful, and it wasn’t just one or two kids, it was the entire class. Their actions soon created a hostile environment not conducive to learning.
By Kristena Eden6 years ago in Families
Georges is a Good Pupil
Once upon a time in the city of Richmond in the state of Indiana, a couple lived with their daughter. Cindy Robinson was an intelligent and beautiful girl, but she had a fault. She was jealous of people who had better grades than she did. She lived in a big apartment with her parents. She was five years old.
By Sandra Bongjoh6 years ago in Families
Silent
Processing ..... I am trying to still process the devastating news I received yesterday. What I thought was going to be a normal exciting routine doctor visit to hear my son’s heartbeat, turned into devastating news that there no longer was a heartbeat to be detected, and he stopped growing at 11 weeks. I am supposed to be 14 weeks, and approaching the time to schedule the big, exciting ultrasound. Now I am scheduled to partake in a D and C, for my body has yet to recognize that the baby is no longer alive. How am I supposed to handle this? I have 4 other children, the youngest being almost 11 months old, who desperately need my love and attention. However, I cannot stop thinking about what is happening inside my body right now. It has been 24 hours since I found out this news, and I must carry on until Monday (3 more days) when I will go to the hospital and have them take care of him. COVID-19 is causing a stressor for I can not have any support in there, just as I could not have support when I found out this news. My husband will drop me off at the doors and I will then walk the halls alone. Walk the halls of the hospital carrying my son inside me yet I will be leaving without him. How am I supposed to handle this? I know he is only 11 weeks, and I know he is small, but he had a heartbeat, he was there. Now he is gone, and I will never get to know who he could have been. This is hard to wrap my mind around, and focus on the positives, and the fact that everything happens for a reason. Why, why did he stop growing? Why is my body not letting go? I have had 3 healthy babies, what happened? Did I do something? I will never have the answers, and I must live with that. This is not easy for me, and I am trying to process as much as I can. I am trying to think of the future and what will be, but it is hard as I am still carrying him inside me, but he is not there. So many questions…I know I will be okay, I know we will be okay, I just do not know how to handle this one.
By Nicole Browne6 years ago in Families
Treasure at Willow Manor
As Rayna sat starring at Willow Manor, she wondered, "How long had it been since she walked through those gates?" Her eyes welled up with tears remembering the last time she saw her beloved grandmother and Willow Manor. She was eighteen and headed to college. The first time she had ever been away from home. While grandmother visited her in Boston, she never took the time to return to the manor. Now it has been twenty years, and she had no choice but to return. Grandmother had fallen ill and needed her help.
By Laura Trombley6 years ago in Families
The Secret
Samiya Ruiz sat on the steps of her run down row home, a cigarette in hand contemplating on what her next move would be. She was anxious, stressed out was an understatement. Looking towards the cloudy sky that was above her asking the universe to make a way. Noise was all around her. People walking up and down her block buying drugs from the drug dealers on the corner. Cars with loud music zooming down the street. She could barely get her thoughts together. But the distractions were nothing compared to the financial hardships she was facing. She was out of work, couldn’t find a job due to the Covid 19 pandemic and living off of her disabled son’s social security check. The rent was due soon, the utility bills were piling up, and she stressed that she wouldn’t have enough. Something was going to get cut off.
By Samantha Rodriguez6 years ago in Families
The Kindness of strangers and loved ones
Let me tell you a story about a beautiful young 18-year-old girl. She had just gotten her life started. For the first time she lived on her own. She had a full-time job and a caring boyfriend. She was looking forward to finally getting to vote. Alas, this was not to be.
By April Barbosa6 years ago in Families
I'm Right Where You Left Me
I’m seven years old, and I’m riding a merry-go-round. Lights and colors are flashing in my eyes, Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer is playing in my ears, and I look over at my mom on the cartoon horse next to me, and she’s laughing. This is the last good memory I have of my mom. Because after she took me to the South Coast Plaza that day, her illness got worse. My memories after that are of people in gowns, machine beeps, and the distinct smell of the hospital. I knew the smell well because my mom had been a nurse, and whenever she came home from work, the smell clung to her like I used to.
By Traci Gray6 years ago in Families
A Good Mother
It is in the third grade that I begin to consider the possibility that Georgie will be a better writer than I am. I’m picking him up from school when he turns to me and says, “The homeless men will ride lobsters.” I nod like I do when I’m not a good enough mother to care about the oddities that fall from my child’s mouth with increasing frequency. I nod like I do when I think something sounds stupid. But he goes on. “And the police will ride in shopping carts. Who do you think will win?”
By Noah Bogdonoff6 years ago in Families
The Third Child
I’m afraid to say yes to a third child as my other little ones reach the ages of 3 and 5 at alarming speed. With birthdays looming at the start of spring I stare hollowly at my ovulation calendar. Again and again red dates followed by purple circles stare up at me from a flat screen. No matter how fast I scroll I cant scroll away fast enough at the last black dot. The marker of what should have been the fourth child. Every month I scoff at the ovulation reminder and angrily log my period dates and symptoms while my significant other stares longingly at the dates with purple circles. I wish he could understand this pain inside my soul, and how it webs and flows similarly to the ocean and how it takes pieces of my sanity with every high tide. At low tide I can joke airily with my sister about her future nieces and nephews; I can laugh with my father as he jokes about another prodigy. At low tide I can piece together dream nurseries online and congratulate my friends and family as they post birth announcements on social media. At low tide I am okay enough to imagine life with another physical child. And all too soon the waves start to push ashore again; faster and faster. The crashing upon the shores of my heart cry out to my being of all my black dots could have been.
By Elizabeth Kerr6 years ago in Families
