Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Birth Plan like a Boss
What you don't expect when you are expecting. Pregnancy is one of those magical times in life when everyone wants to put in their ten cents worth of unsolicited advice. Your mother, mother-in-law, sister, friends, random lady at the coffee shop, your mechanic, dentist and pretty much everyone you happen to cross paths with has some pearl of essential wisdom that they feel compelled to share with you. While it is all well intended, do you really need to know that your sister-in-law tore from here to there and things were never the same down there, so a caesarean is the only way to have a baby? Or that the checkout chick at woolies was in labour for a week and it was the worst experience of her life? Or that if you love your baby you simply have to have a drug free labour according to a woman you met through a Facebook group who had 5 babies all without pain relief? No you could very possibly live a happy and well adjusted life with out this knowledge that you are now privy to in your impregnated state.
By Rebecca Speirs6 years ago in Families
The Power Flower
My dad’s mother passed away when I was fifteen. October of 1991; I remember like it was yesterday. I was a freshman in high school and the typical self-absorbed teenager. I knew way more than my parents. Of course, in retrospect my parents were, and are, quite wise people. So being the hormonal monster that encompassed my essence so well, I wasn’t getting along with them. At all. We constantly argued over issues like the fact that I wasn’t yet allowed to date, my curfew, and my need for expensive clothes (because I was foolish enough to believe that my value derived from having a brand stamped on my ass). My life seemed wretched.
By Kellie Berry6 years ago in Families
The Final Goodbye
The rusted red paint on the old barn appeared faded beyond its years. The sky, too, devoid of any cheery brightness, shrouded the immediate landscape in a solemn bleakness, as if even the inanimate objects and elemental forces were mourning the death of the proprietor of the farm, Nicki’s grandfather.
By Amanda Emm6 years ago in Families
Lost and Found
My grandmother, (my mimi) had been like a mother to me, always taking in my sister and I, when my mentally ill mother was hospitalized. Now my nine year old mind couldn't accept that she had supposedly died of a sudden heart attack. Surely they were lying. "Surely this was just a bad dream", I thought. As the reality sank in that she was really gone, memories flooded my young mind, of all the good times we'd spent together. I began to contemplate the new uncertainties in my life, I felt abandoned by the only person who loved and cherished me. My mother was emotionally unavailable and self absorbed. My father had left before I could remember, and grandpa (my pipi) died before mimi, when I was three. "Where will I go when mom gets sick again? Who will I play card games with me, teach me calligraphy, and listen to how my day went?," I thought, already feeling the loneliness setting in, as I didn't have many friends in our secluded area.
By Michelle Buckaloo6 years ago in Families
I’m Flockin Here!
2020 was a pretty wild year, but I don’t need to tell you that. It was historic…we all saw how crazy things got. It was a dark, confusing time and a lot was covered up. And I didn’t even know about plastic then either, so... wait, I’m talkin’ about the Rockefeller Christmas tree incident, what’d you think I meant? I doubt we need to do introductions here, but I’ll play along. My name is Rockefeller, you know the name, the center, the tree, the bird. So yeah, in case you didn’t know I’m kind of a big deal.
By Bailey Lewis6 years ago in Families
