For a girl, what is being a bride today? Perhaps there is not much difference these days being a bride and being a girl before being a bride. Girls are demanding these days. They have their conditions when they want to marry.

Families gathered huddling in small circles waiting for their future concert musician to come out. We had just finished Landon—my eldest grandson’s—Middle School holiday concert. He is a violinist.

From the outside looking in, most individuals have no idea what it is like to become a caregiver. The caregiver and patient can go through many emotions such as loneliness, helplessness, guilt, stress, anger, resentment, fear, anxiety, grief, sadness, and depression for different reasons.

I never aspired to be a grandmother; I wasn’t against it, just never thought much about it. Then, along came my granddaughter, Madison, my first grandchild and I was in love.

This morning my wife woke me up by saying, "They stole our car from in front of my parent's house!" Not a nice way to start the day.

Seven months ago, you stood in front of me with an enormous smile, hardly able to contain your excitement. “I have something to show you!” you said, handing me your phone.

“My nose itches. I smell peaches. Yonder comes a man with a hole in his breeches.”

I know every family has their problems or their problem child. In my family, my mom and I are the problems. It was like this when I was younger. I was my grandfather's favorite. He still will say I am, but he doesn’t treat me like I am. My mom and I were always around. We would go to dinner at their house a few times a month. We would watch football games there. I went camping every summer with my grandfather. If they needed help at the house they called my mom.

"Wait, what? I’m having how many babies? But, but, but I’m thirty-one and already have two children. Look again, there must be some mistake. No? Really? This is not convenient." This was a little bit of how the conversation went the day I found out that I was going to have twins. As I’m sure is true with all parents of multiples, there was this surprising sense of dread, terror, love, excitement, and absolute joy upon hearing this news. My reaction, however, was nothing compared to that of my mother.

Whenever things get rough in life, and you have to turn to somebody for help or comfort, the first people you think of are usually your parents. You know that their love for you is unconditional, and that they are always there when you need advice, a kind word, or you have a problem you don’t know how to handle on your own. However, at some point, they become the ones who need your attention, time, and sometimes even help. Here are some ways to give some of that love back to your aging parents and treat them with the kindness they deserve.

Becoming a grandparent is supposed to be the happiest time of your life. It is the icing on the cake of parenting... right? Well, it doesn't work out that way for an ever growing number of grandparents. For a huge percentage, becoming a grandparent is coupled with the role of parent for one or more of your child's child.

It’s difficult to make sense of families, sometimes. You grow up thinking that you know people completely because they are always present. They seem so familiar that you never quite see what is glaringly obvious, in hindsight.