humanity
Humanity begins at home.
A Lesson Well Learned
"Which mask should I put on today," the young child asked her mom. "An ugly troll, a cheerful gnome, or fairy full of charm?" Her mother turned from cleaning up and signed with pure frustration. "Hurry up, you'll miss the bus and have no transportation."
By Kiesha Haughton6 years ago in Families
Slaying the Dragon?
My husband suggested that we write our different perspectives of an experience we had during the middle of last year. This ‘experience’ is better known as The Tail of the Dragon: an eleven-mile piece of asphalt designated US Highway 129 known for its 318 curves over some of the most beautiful hills along the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Enthusiasts gather at the Harley Davidson store on the Tennessee side or a convenience store on the North Carolina side, and drive across the mountain on a road much like the early 60’s Corvair: unsafe at any speed. While I thoroughly enjoyed the drive – the subtle movement of our convertible BMW pleased me – that trip was something very different for me. We had left home after an amazingly stressful evening, which had brought with it some realizations that could charitably be described as uncomfortable.
By Ken Fendley6 years ago in Families
Skin No Darker Than a Brown Paper Bag
Skin No Darker Than a Brown Paper Bag By Kami Bryant My mother was a blonde and blue-eyed Caucasian and my father is a black man. That heritage classifies me as mixed or mulatto. My heritage also qualifies me as neither white nor black but both. It also makes it so I don’t quite fit in to one racial box. I typically either mark both boxes white and black or sometimes two or more races. I used to mark the ‘Other’ category when questioned about my race.
By Kami Bryant6 years ago in Families
Beth's Big Move
Beth parks the car in the garage, hits the garage door button and bursts excitedly through the garage access door. “Honey, you’ll never believe what just happened! Never in a million years!” George gets up from his easy chair and approaches Beth. “OK, OK, calm down a bit. Wow, something’s got you all..” “I just won $20,000!! Look at this scratch-off card!” Her husband replies, “you bought scratch-off cards?! Why? We both know those things are for idio…” “Just please look at this!" George skeptically examines the card. “My God, Beth, you’re right!! It looks like a winning lottery card!” Beth exclaims, “I never win anything! This is so strange!” The two start hugging and hopping up and down and dancing on the kitchen floor. Then, George’s brain immediately kicks into overdrive. “Let’s take a trip! Or, no! A new car! The old pickup has over 200,000 miles on it. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe it’s time. What are your thoughts? What do you want to do with it?!” How to spend it hadn’t really crossed Beth’s mind; she was still basking in the glow of having actually won something. How should they spend it? A vacation? New car? Give it to their boys? “Well…I really don’t know yet. Can I think about it?” “Yeah, of course! Let it sink in, we’ll redeem the card at the regional lottery center, and we can both start thinking about our options.” “OK, that sounds good! Thanks, hon.” The rest of the day was carefree, quiet and restful.
By Michael Hemenway6 years ago in Families
New Res Life
Our new house was a tiny two-story, two-bedroom on a remote street with four other houses. The nearest houses sat one mile to the north. The next nearest were 5 miles south in a part of town called South Superior. East End settlement began 6 miles to the east and 7 miles to west lay Billings Park. I couldn’t help but wonder how we weren’t on the reservation any more. We started out just as poor as we were before, there were even fewer kids here my age than on Red Cliff, and we were farther from other people.
By Armond Blackwater6 years ago in Families
An Expose on the "Actually Autistic" Community
Dear Readers, Before I jump into today's topic, let me make a disclaimer: The struggles of individuals on the spectrum who can mask are real. While some of us can mask and act more neurotypical and thus be treated better overall, it is still hard to find a job, make and keep friends, and even on some days, perform certain tasks. Yes, even those of us who are able to mask and present as more neurotypical, still have days where it is harder to function and complete seemingly simple tasks, such as doing the dishes, laundry, taking the trash out, getting the mail, etc. Yes, our grooming and hygiene may suffer on some days. Yes, it can be stressful for us to have a conversation, especially when the TV is on or the music is really loud. Yes, even those of us who are more neurotypical- passing struggle with a learning disability and have to sometimes fight the school, college, or university to get accommodations so we can pass all our classes. All these struggles do exist and are very real. But something has to be addressed.
By Sunny Dolen6 years ago in Families
