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.
The Mule’s Last Apology
He sat there staring at it like it was going to jump up and bite him like a rattlesnake. Remy McAlister had a lot of experience with rattlesnakes growing up in the backwoods of Alabama. He and his twin brother, Rom, saw and caught their fair share traipsing around the woods behind their house. Their Mom’s father, whom the boys called Papaw in appropriate Alabama drawl, taught the twins how to catch those snakes and how to safely cut the heads and tails off. Much to the twins's mother’s disdain, they kept those tails in a Sketchers shoe box under their bunk bed.
By Bitsy's Musings6 years ago in Families
51/50 Hospitalization: Rock Bottom
It was February 17, 2020. That morning, I went in for a job interview I didn't really want. I sat across from the interviewer, disinterested in what he was saying. But, the smile on my face did a good job at convincing him otherwise. To my surprise, I managed to get through the interview and land the job.
By Erika Hunter6 years ago in Families
Hometown Special of the Day...Death
My hometown and I have a love/hate relationship, but as the saying goes nothing worthwhile is easy. Many times, I have moved away and boldly stated, “I am never going to live in that tiny town again”. However, a force or circumstances have always drawn me back home. So, what is it about this one store town that keeps this adventurous chick coming back for more, death. Ok, wait don’t run away and think I’m just some crazy woman, stick around for the story and the bittersweet relationship with death.
By Mikey Lane, MS, LPC, Energy Healer, Medium6 years ago in Families
Everything doesn't happen for a reason
"Everything happens for a reason" the words reverberated off my spine, threatening to couple me as I spoke to my grandma, unaware of the traumas that plagued my small mind. I was closed off about my own experience as a child, afraid that if I opened up, my brother would be released into the sea of foster system never to be seen again.
By L.D. Malachite 6 years ago in Families
721 Heart Shaped Everything
In June of 2006, I thought my life was where it was supposed to be. I had a job working for a small locally owned business. I was recently promoted to the Store Manager. My husband, at the time, was working for the railroad as a conductor, and we had a 1 year old little girl. We owned a small home in a small city. Little did I know, big things were on the for me. For my career and for my life. Little did I know...my life would quickly turn upside down, one event after another. For me, my life started over for the first time in 2006. I had minor monumental moments between 2006 and 2015, where it would start over for a second time, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.
By Vanessa R. Powell6 years ago in Families
My Granny's Hands
I never knew my paternal Grandmother--My dad's mother Doris. She died before I was born. However, I was fortunate enough to have known and loved my Great Grandmother Agnes. She was a loving and huggy Granny and I remember sitting on her lap and listening to her stories-- And it didn't matter that she sometimes spoke Ojibwe and I didn't; Somehow I knew what she was saying, chalk it up to the special magic that only Great Grandmothers possess.
By Jason Fortier6 years ago in Families
The Five Tasks of Hera Clees
I only met Aunt Helene once. It was a very brief visit, but I remember her piercing eyes penetrating me in a way that felt very intrusive, demanding that I give up every secret and thought I held in my seven-year-old brain. She was rumored to be extraordinarily rich. Nobody in my family ever cared about the details of how this grocery cashier made her fortune. They all sucked up to her.
By Jessica Gray6 years ago in Families
Little Black Book
It devastated Laura Jean to wake up two days ago to discover her grandfather, Henry passed in his slumber, but knew it meant peace without being riddled with pain. They diagnosed him with late stage prostate cancer in August, and she took a year off from college to help take care of him.
By Ashley Zakrzewski6 years ago in Families
Macon, GA
I was born and raised in the “Heart of Georgia”, also known as Macon, GA. I went off to the University of Georgia to study Art History in 2011 and now live in Atlanta working as a photographer. About 6 months ago I started visiting Macon more regularly to document the landscape and architecture of my adolescence with the camera. A lot has changed since I was younger. The house I was born and raised in was sold a couple of years ago. My Dad is a widower that lives in a rented apartment. None of my friends live in Macon anymore. Seeing Macon with older eyes makes me wonder if it’s still my home. So much of what is familiar of my past is deteriorating rapidly and all that I have left are memories of what was once my home. These memories of my upbringing raise questions about what the nature of “home” is for me. I find myself meditating on the ephemeral and mutable nature of memory and its relationship to identity. If who I am is largely defined by my past experiences, then what happens to me as my memories and perceptions become latent and alter over time?
By Elliott Fuerniss6 years ago in Families
Memories, Buried
The computer chimed that the massive audio file had finally finished sending. It always made Alex Roth nervous, wondering if his latest jingle would arrive in time to the corporate producers. He swiveled in a gray office chair to look at his wall calendar. It hung beneath the shadow box of the burial flag from his father. Heather liked to make him a calendar every year, bringing her camera roll and set of duplicates into the local print shop. She had a talent for seeing people and capturing a moment.
By Horace Wheatley6 years ago in Families
Hidden In The Music
“He’s gone, he’s just gone. You don’t need to come.” These are the words that Karen, my stepmother spoke to me minutes after my father died. I was driving frantically to the hospital in a vain attempt to see him before he passed but since I lived an hour away my efforts were too little, too late.
By Marie Taylor6 years ago in Families
Flowers for Martha
Flowers for Martha The snow was swirling frantically about her head as Brianna walked the half mile home from her daily shift at the local cafe. “Someday”, she thinks to herself, “ I will find a better job, a better place to live and change my life”. The cold tugging at her face as she grips her coat tighter around her. She finally manages to make it home only to find her power has been knocked out by the snowstorm. She screams to herself, “There has to be something better for me”!
By Robin Hardy6 years ago in Families
