grief
Losing a family member is one of the most traumatic life events; Families must support one another to endure the five stages of grief and get through it together.
My Dad Always Said...
Grief. That’s all I’m feeling at this point in time. I’m trying to remember all the little details about my father. What his favorite songs were? How much he loved mom and us. Was he mad at me? For not being there all those years? Right after college, I interned for one of the biggest radio stations in my city. Which ultimately led me to traveling the world with my career. I’ve seen Europe, Africa, New Zealand, hell I’ve seen every single state in the United States. If only passports stamped for that sort of thing. My dad would always call me and ask how I was doing. He’d never ask me for money directly, but I always managed to wire him some funds. I remember he’d get so mad at me for sending him large amounts. I refused to have it returned to me at all cost. It’s the least I could do as a son. After everything I put my parents through. My addiction to heroin and alcohol caused most of my parents problems. I almost drove them to divorce at one point. But you can see why I’m so adamant about giving my parents money back. Somewhere along the lines I owed them. I owed them a lot. I owed my entire life to them.
By Bryant Zambrano3 years ago in Families
Mamita's Notebook
There I was, mid-Tuesday afternoon, staring. Not at a phone or something even remotely interesting to anyone else. I was staring at a mole – right there, in the middle of my right arm. Between ripples and some "un-girly" hair was the one thing that represented a part of me I never understood and the thing that changed everything.
By Flavia Santibanez3 years ago in Families
Struck in Error
My father’s drafting tools had been assembled into a neat pile on top of the antique Victorian Davenport desk; the same desk he had used to design airplanes, hydroplanes, and hovercrafts; now a beautifully carved monument to his classified work.
By Solomon Shacter3 years ago in Families
A Prayer for Sorrow
Her husband died in his sleep on the hottest day of the summer. He spent the day before out on the job, some building on the good side of town, and returned home with a large jar of red peppers. Lucia didn’t like red peppers, neither did their grown sons. Yet Gio bought them anyway for when his brothers would come in from Philly that Saturday. He snuck a few from a jar that night as Lucia cleaned the dishes from dinner. He sat at the yellow kitchen table and stared out the window out into the yard where dandelions were taking over. The record player was playing Vieni Sul Mar from a scratchy 45 rpm record, but neither of them paid it any mind. Lucia’s back pulsed in pain as she bent over the scalding sink, scrubbing in silence.
By M.J. Weisen3 years ago in Families
My Nona's Secret
It seemed fitting that it rained all day today, the day of my Nona’s funeral. It has rained every day since she died, just four days ago. First, I lost my parents in a car crash when I was seven and now, at twenty four, I lost the only other living family I had left. I don’t think I would be able to deal with it all without my best friend, Lucy, by my side.
By Allison Ann Johnson3 years ago in Families
Do Better
The day was clear and surprisingly quiet. As my mind drifted, it felt like everything was in slow motion. The single bird in the bluest of blue skies drifting off past my sight line, a glimpse of the highway in the distance and flowers. I am looking through the car window taking in a day that I have never seen before and will never see again. It is a day that changed my life forever.
By Deirdre Simmons3 years ago in Families
windfalls and tornados
She had always planned her budget around these windfalls. Nobody really understood how this always seemed to work out, but it always did. I’m pretty sure the number one rule of budgeting is to never spend money before you get it, but anything coming her way was already spent. And not on stupid things—every purchase was more of a communal contribution, a generous tithe even. If she had cash, it was going towards something for everyone. If it was ten bucks, they got cheap wine for the night, and if it was a hundred, it included dinner. Money did not hold much value to her, even though she was perpetually stressed out by it.
By king virginia3 years ago in Families
Henry Saves a Life
Henry lay silently staring into deep space, wishing on the tiny distant specs. The distorted clouds and brilliant Northern Lights were dancing around the full moon, changing it’s face from orange and green, to hues of pink, and then to a bright white. “Surely someone that made a universe so beautiful could help me with my Father” he prayed. Tears flowed down his cheeks again as he thought about his Dad’s diagnosis; so broken hearted, so shattered.
By Darlene Thevenot3 years ago in Families