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Families featured post, a Families Media favorite.
Andreas Szakacs on the Power of Community Support and Social Impact
In a world where many families continue to face challenges related to food security, healthcare access, and education, Andreas Szakacs believes that meaningful change begins at the community level. Through his commitment to philanthropy and social responsibility, Andreas Szakacs has become an advocate for initiatives that support children and families in underserved communities.
By Andreas szakacs5 months ago in Families
Manifestations of Abandonment Part 3
Have you ever had a pet you loved deeply and had to part with? I know many of you have, but I am not referring to parting as in a dearly departed. I am talking about a pet you were forced to give up. The reasons may vary, but I think at some point, many of us have that experience. For someone who was once abandoned, this is especially difficult. We understand being left and discarded. When we are forced to do that to an animal, it hits differently. We come to realize we have now done to an animal what has damaged us to our core, and the guilt and self-loathing over the act stay with us. Maybe forever. Mine is certainly still dancing around in my heart and soul.
By Alexandra Grant5 months ago in Families
Manifestations of Abandonment
I have always been a curator of stray pets. From the wee age of six, I kept bringing home every abandoned, lonely creature I found. Call it a compassionate heart, a love for animals, too, maybe. I think it was a symptom of what abandonment does to a person. You rescue what you identify with because you can’t stand for anything to feel as you have. So I brought home lonely creatures in need of love. Maybe I was rescuing myself from loneliness and despair.
By Alexandra Grant5 months ago in Families
Manifestations of Abandonment
I am a product of abandonment. Not my choice, but it is what it is. I am a product of several things, not at all nice to discuss, yet I am still kicking. I am not sure what people’s intentions are when they do something, but I am guessing selfishness is at the root of it all. I was abandoned. Correction, my sister and I were abandoned by our mother when I was around two years old.
By Alexandra Grant5 months ago in Families
He Was Mine
On June 3rd, 2025, my father, Hugh Stewart, died. Dementia. I have written various pieces, including two challenge-winning poems about our complicated relationship. While it is true and fair that he was not an easy man to love, rather than taking further opportunities to discuss his failings, I wanted to commemorate the first anniversary of his death by celebrating him a little.
By Paul Stewart5 months ago in Families
Tell Me Who Your Friends Are
My dad had many little quips he would use not only to make a point but also to irritate us. When I was growing up, hearing them made me angry. He would just pop them off without explaining them. That was maddening. They sounded like a snub. It wasn’t until I was an adult and later had our son that I caught myself using a couple of them, and I finally understood their meaning. I said I would never be like my dad, and yet here I was using those presumed words of wisdom.
By Alexandra Grant5 months ago in Families
Recipe for A Human
The world is a complete and utter dumpster fire. Hate surrounds us at every level. Social media, the 24-hour news cycle, religion (yes, I said it), and politics all perpetuate it. It doesn’t end unless we choose to end it. My husband and I chose to help make that happen.
By Alexandra Grant5 months ago in Families
What You Teach Without Knowing
Opening the cupboards I see it. It does’t hit me right away. I open the kitchen drawer for a spoon and I noticed it, but just barely. Then last night, as I folded and put away clothes, it confronted me again, but this time I paused. In that moment, I realized my son does things the way I do. I saw his habits mirror mine in many ways; ways I did not intentionally teach him. My son had been watching and paying attention to everything I did.
By Alexandra Grant6 months ago in Families
