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.
Box of knowledge
It was a cold, wet, winters day when Sonja got the phone call about her mother’s passing. She had not been back to her home state of Florida for several years now but was now planning a trip she was not looking forward to making. ‘At least winter in Florida as cold as it is here in Ohio’ she thought to herself as she waited on hold with a funeral home. Her children, now ages 8 and 2, had never met their grandmother. Just another regret that Sonja would have to live with now. She and her mother had fallen out of touch over a decade ago, and now Sonja could hardly remember why. Something stupid most likely, they were so much alike, her mother and Sonja. Both so stubborn, pig-headed, not willing to give in and see things from the others point of view. She had not shed a tear since learning of her mother’s death but the regrets of not having had a relationship with her were starting to weight on Sonja.
By Clay Wilkinson5 years ago in Families
Chocolate Wars
It was hard growing up a military brat, we moved what seemed like a hundred times a year, but realistically it was more like once every two years. Bootcamp was hard for me and my dad. My mom wanted to be a United States Marine for as long as I could remember, her father was and she revered him. my mom was always pretty tough for a girl, and she was very competitive. My dad thought she was just being crazy, so they would get into fights about it all the time, I would listen to her try to convince him that she could do it and that it would be great for our financial future, but he always treated her like she was more fragile that she actually was and she hated being seen as weak. He also used me against her alot, giving the whole "How is Gavin going to grow up without a mother, only seeing you once a year"? speeches. Neither one of them were very good with expressing thier emotions to each other, so my father used me to tell her he would miss her without actually saying it. Her father raised her tough, so there was very little she couldn't do if she wanted to including fix anything with a motor, but that spilled over into not being able to really show her feelings. I knew my mother and father loved each other more than anyone could ever know, I didn't always see it between them, but once in a while they would get drunk and get all lovey dovey, which would cause me to make faces at them when they did. They would just laugh and walk to thier bedroom hand in hand, where they would remain for a few hours, and the noises that came from that room where unmentionable!
By C. M. Sears5 years ago in Families
Say his name
This is my first story outside of poets and is deeply personal to me. It was written recently in a response to the writing prompt 'anniversary'. It is about my beautiful son, James. He was with us for all too short a time but has left indelible marks not only on mine and his father's lives but many others as well. James is who made me a mother, even though I don't get to watch him grow up, and he is still a source of inspiration for me, in my art, my poetry, and my life. Whenever I see a butterfly, I know James is there, sending me love and watching over me.
By Emma Datson5 years ago in Families
In Loving Memory: Losing A Loved One
Losing a loved one is difficult. People say, “just get over it” or “you need to move on”. That is easy to say when you are not the person dealing with the situation. There is no just get over it or you need to move on because the person that we cherished is gone. We have memories, good or bad but we do not just bounce back like that.
By Nerissha Hunt5 years ago in Families
The Mother's Soul
It was about 7:34 pm on a cold November night in 2018. Mukul was having dinner with his wife Pooja. Pooja had made his favourite dish chole bhature. Their three children, Anil, Vijaya and Kirti had gone to bed early. This year the weather was very cold for November in Kanpur, India. Pooja told Mukul, “Should we see a movie tonight, dear?” He replied, “No, thanks. Tonight I want to sit alone for a while and then I will come to sleep.” “That is ok. No problem at all. I will read my favourite novel tonight,” said Pooja. She gave Mukul a hug and then proceeded to their bedroom.
By Anshuman Kumar5 years ago in Families
The Last Phone Call
It was about 8:32 pm on a very hot June evening in 2019. Hemant was waiting for his favourite TV show, Crime Patrol Satark, to come on Sony TV in about an hour. His wife Shivani and daughter Priya had gone to bed early this night. From his house’s window Hemant was looking outside at the nice sky. He loved living in Bhopal, India for the past 27 years.
By Anshuman Kumar5 years ago in Families
Angels in the Deep
Hello! So, Tuesday July 13th, my grandmother passed after a 6 or so month health battle, in her sleep. The next day when I caught sight of this Challenge on the Vocal site, and I immediately had the idea for this story, and knew this is what we were going with. The premise of this story is fictional. The only particularly real part is, of course, the main character's loss. Everything else is the fictional parts, but some is inspired by realistic elements that happened after my own loss. For example, it may not have been a shark, but the day she passed a beautiful bird came over and sat on the bush outside of our apartment for a few minutes. And I smiled at that bird and, with tears, said "look, she came back to say she's alright."
By Lizzy Rose5 years ago in Families
Salute, Mom.
Growing up as teenagers, we think we know everything. The world revolves around us and mom doesn't know what she's talking about. We get to our adulthood and we start off thinking people should be living like us, as though we discovered a new way of life and everyone would be foolish to not live and see the world like we do. That's why we work so hard to get people to try the things we try and do the things we do and expect it to turn out the way it did for us, for the others we tried to influence. While in our bubble, we fail to realize that history repeats itself. Everything we thought was new, was just up cycled to fit the era. When our bubble gets popped, we find out that we don't know shit and the moment we do know anything significant is when we discover we actually don't know shit! Well at least speaking for myself.
By Jacx of Many5 years ago in Families
