extended family

All about how to stay connected, strengthen ties and talk politics with your big, happy extended family.

The Truth as It Is
The Truth Be Told I hold it in my hand my hand shakes I know I shouldn’t touch it or even have opened the red velvet trunk it was in. Mum has told me a hundred times grandma’s attic is for adults only, don’t ever go up there and never open the red velvet trunk. I look around and dust surrounds me and cobwebs fall from the rafters. This is a magical place and I love to sneak up here and just sit, wonder and imagine the people who’ve been here before.
By Louise Lovett6 years ago in Families
THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF PANDEMICS
Harlem, NY, November 9,2020. It was 3 months into her Junior year of High School and Nalani was already over it. Only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving, Lord give her the strength. She was tired of the mundane routine that her life had become. Get up at 9am, sit on the toilet, not necessarily for elimination, but as time to get in the last few minutes of sleep, before logging on to her "virtual school". 9:35am, as she awakes from her toilet slumber, "Oh man, I have to take the dog out." "C'mon Akira, let's go outside". With no time to put on a coat to face the winter morning, Nalani pulled up the hood on her sweatshirt, ran down the stairs to the front door of the brownstone, opened the door and yelled "Akira go! Hurry up." The little dog went outside, hurriedly peed and returned to the front door, as Nalani stood waiting. She opened the door, ran back up the stairs, with Akira close behind, grabbed a bottle of water and was about to go back upstairs to her "virtual classroom" AKA her bedroom, when Akira exclaimed "Awwwwrrrllll", in dog fashion, meaning she was ready for her bacon treat. Nalani retrieved a dog bacon snack, threw it to Akira and went upstairs. 9:55am, 5 minutes until showtime. Nalani logged on, turned the video off, and checked in to her first class.
By Antonia Webber6 years ago in Families
The Window Seat
My flat overlooks the Royal Mile. It’s rather comical, really. My mother would give me such a hard time for having landed myself right in the middle of this pocket of Edinburgh infested with tourists. That is, if my mother were still around.
By Grace Ann Rothwell6 years ago in Families
A Gift
While my grandma was alive, the most remarkable story, she retold, was of her sister, Komal’s ultimate triumph. Komal was uglier than the proverbial ugly duckling, who won the heart of her beautiful husband in the end. Well, not at the end of her life or anything. But you know how fairy tales end with the “happily ever after.” Nobody tells the story of the “after.” Neither did grandma.
By Shuchi Shukla6 years ago in Families
Her Secret Diary
Her Secret Diary By Tamara Dahlberg Twin sisters Hannah and Emma Shubert sat in the stuffy office of the law office of Walters and Stanton watching
By Tamara Dahlberg6 years ago in Families
Following The Numbers
Following the Numbers The Little Black Book Early to bed, early to rise makes a young Mother and Daughter healthy, wealthy, and wise!
By Monica Spurrell6 years ago in Families
A grandmother's guide to being prepared
Today is the first day of my last year of college. I should be happy to get out of here and move on with my life, but graduating terrifies me. How is my music degree going to be worth the student debt I’ve accumulated? Maybe my Music Career Development course this semester will help me figure that out. My other class - World Music: Africa, the Middle East and the Americas - definitely will not.
By Amy Dempsey6 years ago in Families
Parting Words
Heaven let herself into the small quiet house. It had been a few weeks since she’d been by to see her grandfather. This had always been a place of refuge for her growing up and even now under these circumstances, Heaven felt safe and at peace.
By Cynthia Fields6 years ago in Families
The Child Windfall
The bank check – or whatever this was he had found – had been made out to “Child.” What child? Whose child? And why was this kid getting a check for $20,000? A check written in 1790!
By Pat Ocken6 years ago in Families
The Gift
The first time Sadie met her Auntie Mae she was 6 years old and painfully shy. Her mother had died tragically in a car accident, leaving her alone in the world. She was placed in foster care while they tried to locate her family, her foster Mom was a kind woman who always looked at Sadie with pity. After a few weeks they found an aunt of her Mothers who did not hesitate to agree to take in Sadie, despite not knowing she existed until then. Her foster mother took extra care in dressing Sadie to meet her family. Her soft, baby-blonde hair was carefully brushed into perfect golden ringlets. The lacy pink ribbons pinned in her hair perfectly matched the frilly pink dress, pink patent shoes and pale pink tights. She looked just like a pretty little doll, with sad eyes.
By Heather Donald6 years ago in Families
Love, loss and learning
The envelope sat untouched on the kitchen table. It had been there for the best part of a week and Alice could not even cast it a sideways glance without filling with fury. How could it be that losing her mum had meant this job passed to her as well?
By Helen Hunter6 years ago in Families
Auntie Cassandra
Sometimes, Andi swore she was actually Cinderella. No handsome prince on the horizon, but still. Her parents were never that stable a match, and dad vanishing when she was ten hadn't been a big shock. Her mother dying from cancer three years later while she was starting high school, was. And living with her paternal grandparents wasn't exactly a bed of roses. They hadn't seen their son since he took off, and somehow they blamed Andi and her mom for that.
By Cindy Darling6 years ago in Families