humanity
Humanity begins at home.
Behind the Beat
My favorite songs are always the songs that communicate a message that can only be expressed thru song. Behind the beat is a story that can only be conveyed with a
Anthony Wills JrPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesThe House That Built Me
As I write these words, I’m sitting in a living room, that holds the memories of every person I have ever loved. It was eight years ago that my mother became sick and my partner, Bryan, and I decided we needed to move in with her to help out. She still had her snappy wits about her but her legs and lungs weren’t doing so well and I didn’t want her to be alone out here in the country. It turned out to be a great move in many ways but one of the most meaningful to me was the way that Bryan and mom bonded. It was really something special to watch as they sat discussing everything imaginable for hours on end. Bryan told me that right from the start, he felt as though he had known my mom his entire life. He told me what an incredible person she was and how he had never met anyone like her. It was all really wonderful to hear and it made me smile because I knew he meant every word. Ever since my divorce more than a decade earlier, mom had been concerned about me being alone and I could feel the relief in her once she met Bryan.
Lawson PattersonPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesTop of the World
I woke up to the earthy, woody smell of our bahay-kubo—a small house made out of bamboo and nipa leaves. My back feels sore from lying flat on the cold, hard bamboo floor, but I have never felt better in ages. I heard a quiet tap, like a stone falling on a wooden floor at a short distance, followed by a voice saying, “check, your turn.” I knitted my brow then looked up. There’s a person sitting in front of me; it was my grandfather. How did I just wake up lying down and now sitting up playing chess with my grandfather? I hear a song playing on my grandfather’s old stereo, a stereo so old it only plays cassette tapes, but the sound was so muffled I could barely hear the song. Although the sound was barely audible, my thoughts were already telling me what the song is. It was my grandfather’s favorite song, “Top of the World” by the Carpenters.
Jerianne Delos ReyesPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesReminder
My life, my story.... Growing up, I was always reminded, Reminded about the pain and confusion I felt as a child.
Memories of Winter
I have spent all my life within spitting distance of the north shore of Lake Ontario. Winters were cold and long with lots of snow. We lived in the country. Other than plowing the driveway and the road, snow stayed where it fell.
ShadowsPubPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesWhen She Made Me Promise
Growing up, I had spent many weekends sleeping in the childhood bedroom of a woman I never met. Everything stood where she had left it. The white canopy bed with baby blue accent flowers was accompanied by a small nightstand. On this table was a small book called “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, and a tiny lamp that I would leave on all night due to my fear of the dark. On this particular night, I stared at my shadow on the wall. My great-grandmother had been ill for a while. As I stared deeper into my shadow I began to think about her journey into death. All of a sudden it felt as if the Victorian walls of the home where my great-grandmother raised the grandmother I never knew were closing in on me and the floor was swallowing me whole. My breath had become shallow. My sight clouded with tears. It was in that moment that I had come to the realization that I was of this world, and because of it, I too would one day meet death. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was an eight-year-old having my first of many existential crises. My great-grandmother would succumb to her complications with diabetes March 11, 1995, The morning after my 10th Birthday. I am ashamed to admit how annoyed I was that my great-grandmother’s slow descent into death was overshadowing my birthday. Especially after the year I had. I was barely 10 years old, and I had already grown tired of talking and “living” in death. I wanted to focus on life. I wanted to focus on life because it was the only thing that distracted me from my nearly debilitating fear of death.
Racine LancasterPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesLeft Behind In Cuba
My family is from Cuba. On my dad's side there are 14 brothers and sisters, all raised on a farm. On my mom's side, there are 5 siblings, all raised apart by relatives since my maternal grandmother passed away when my mother was just 18 months old.
Chris McLennanPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesFrozen rain and breath
My first family gathering in Atlanta after 1 month abroad was tonight. The late year weather tortured us, too warm for snow yet too cold for a pleasant rain. But we had all promised each other to make the best of it and meet for one night at The Atlanta Botanical Gardens Christmas lights show. Previously we would meet every year between November, December, and January to see this show, but the on,y when the weather would allow us. This night had grown into a cold dreary mess we had to make beautiful ourselves.
Sophia GenoPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesI'm Dreaming...
As a little girl in the 1980's, I spent my Christmases either in California with my mother or in New York with her parents. She tried to always be in New York for the Holidays, but it was rare. I was usually in New York without her. Both her parents birthdays fell in December with my grandfather's birthday falling on Christmas Day.
Lady SundayPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesI Won't Back Down
I'm pretty positive that inthis life, most of us have heard at least once, if not over and over, the phrase, "life is hard". The truth behind that simple 3 word phrase can be seering, and very hard to accept. Especially if you were just born dealt a hard hand to play to begin with. It is nice to be able to open your heart to inspirational events or even songs that come your way, and keep you going. This is my story:
Rebecka LambPublished 4 years ago in FamiliesHave a good day, live life to the fullest.
Reguarding Were We Live (Raise): As we walk around our city everyday and we also take the community transit sometimes, we get the same feeling's over and over again. Feeling like they are watching us and there putting us down, is it because we don't dress like them, is it because we can't afford a nice apartment like them. As the feeling of them talking and staring at us, we begin to get affended. We become so insecure about our self and about where we come from because of so many judgemental people in our community. Yes we understand that some of us may be living in a rundown area were we have to watch out for everything around us. It is scary for us to live in this kind of environment and for us to be worried about what is going to happen and when it is going to happen. Not only that but we also worry so much for our family's coming back and forth form the apartment to school or from anywhere at that. But at this moment in time it is hard for us because we cant afford a decent apartment in a good area. The reason we live were we live is because of the struggles and complication that we have had to deal with in our life. We may be in this perdicument due to our family paying for our medical bills, could be because we lost everything in a fire, or it could also be because we use when ever bit of money to put food in our place to feed our family. There are plenty of possibility's and reasons why we all live were we live. We all should be thinking about each others possible reasons for were they are living weather its in a rundown home in a bad area or living in a well maintained building in a nice quiet area because that shouldn't describe who we are as human beings.
SmilingSams.Published 4 years ago in FamiliesHow Eminem Saved My Life
I remember when I listened to Eminem aka Marshall Mathers for the first time. I was ten years old. I found a cassette tape buried in the back of the medicine cabinet when I was bored one night. I decided to look through the cabinet that had old prescriptions, new prescriptions and various random items. I picked Eminem's cassette out from a pile of about 6 of them and got lucky that the whole Marshall Mathers LP was recorded onto the back and the front of the cassette; I had to switch sides by track 8.
Natalie WayPublished 4 years ago in Families