immediate family

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Holiday Magic is Actually Mom's Magic
If there are any people in the world who celebrate Christmas excessively, Filipinos quickly come to mind. After all, the Christmas season in the Philippines starts on September 1st and lasts until January 9th! Christmas songs can be heard from every street corner, at the mall, and on every radio station. Decorations go up in every household and commercial space. Everyone goes shopping at full throttle. Bibingka (a type of rice cake) and puto bumbong (a type of rice cake cooked in a bamboo tube) are sold from street stalls, which permeate the air with the scent of burning coconut husks and coal. Colorful parols (Christmas lanterns) line the streets and houses. Lights come alive in the metro. Debate aside, we Filipinos know how to celebrate the holiday season.
By Natalia Roxas6 years ago in Families
The Time I Found the Letters
The too long Holiday visit was over now and I was home. My home. Hours away from the placed I’d grown up. The place I always called home. I’d gone home because it was time. Past time, really. I needed to see all of them. The people who haunted my dreams and made me cry at random times during the day. The reasons for the darkness in the afternoons that stayed with me into the evenings.
By A.6 years ago in Families
My Story, Without Regrets
It all began on a cold wintry January morning, almost 73 years ago, when I came into this world, the second of what was to be three sons, to a Chinese father and a Colombian mother, in Washington, DC. They had met while mom was working as the nanny to the Colombian Ambassador to the U.S. and his wife who had three children and dad who went to visit his friend, also from China who also worked at that embassy, as a butler. Dad saw mom and was immediately struck by her beauty and shy demeanor and it was akin to the scene in the original “Godfather” movie when Michael first saw Apolonia, who would become his wife, my dad, like Michael, had been struck by the proverbial “lightning bolt”, a relationship, after they were married which would span some six decades.
By Robert Woo6 years ago in Families
Season of Believing
This year might be a little tougher to dig on down to our celebratory feels when it comes to Christmas. 2020 has been no easy year for any single one of us. We have let holidays and birthdays pass without seeing the ones we love in effort to keep them and ourselves healthy and safe. We have walked around with our faces covered and our identities masked themselves. We have had fear in our hearts for our neighbors, friends and families and not only because of Covid-19 but for equality reasons and more. This year has been a trial. So this Christmas should be a celebration that we who are here can embrace the magic of the holiday however we celebrate it. Normally we would be gathering with our family for a huge family party which now will be done through a zoom session. We will however still make our ham dinner on Christmas eve and put out the milk and cookies for the big guy to grace our boys beautiful mind, which is what this story will be about. He was asked today to write about Santa and the North Pole and what he imagines it to be. Through everything life has thrown, he still believes in the magic of wonder, something we should all dig on down and find again. So here it is, magic through imagination. Enjoy.
By Ashley Mattei6 years ago in Families
My Dad Has Dementia
Today my lil sister had a baby! A little baby girl. 💕 Awwww. Such sweetness. The other 3 of us girls all had boys the first time around so she's the first to have a girlie first child.
By Lisa Akemi6 years ago in Families
Trials of Being an Aunt
I don’t think that people understand all of the issues with being an Aunt. My first time being an aunt I was fourteen. My sister had a son at seventeen and left for the military when he was 6 months old. From the time she left to seeing her the day of her graduation I helped my mother and my other sister take care of her baby. It wasn’t hard to do, it was just his reaction to seeing his mother after her being gone for 6 to 9 months. As any mother should, my sister was happy to see her son, but what she wasn’t prepared for was him being terrified of her. The look of pain on her face as he screamed at her when she tried to grab him, the pure resentment she felt for me when he cried “mama,” while looking at me. I have always showed pictures of her and tried to make sure he knew that I was not his mom. Nevertheless, he was attached and admittedly so was I. The relationship between me and my sister was never pristine, but after that moment our relationship has never been the same.
By Mae Elle 6 years ago in Families
A Different Kind Of Christmas
The last time I saw my brother was when I was on Christmas break. I had gotten the opportunity to travel and go see him. It was somewhat of a miracle in and of itself because it was a last-minute decision. Most of the students at the dorm had already made plans and were also traveling to go spend time with family for their Christmas break. As I looked at my passport, there was a sense of nostalgia and irony that came over me. Just about a year ago, it was him who had traveled home from college for the holidays.
By Akpene6 years ago in Families
Picture book
There’s an overcast today I had read in my weather app. Turned to my side eyes barely open but they are focused. Fixed on the blinds and got a glimpse of the dreariness seeping into my room. I don’t want to feel like outside. Turned over onto my back and stare up at the ceiling stretching out my toes and arms and released a few yawns. Damn I thought, why haven’t I’ve gotten up.
By Sol Pen6 years ago in Families
The Hands of Those I Love
The Hands of Those I Love I remember growing up and hearing my mother play “Daddy’s hands,” on the radio and I always found it funny because neither of us were raised by our fathers. We would sing that song as if we knew the feeling of having our father pull us in for a hug, or holding us when we had a nightmare, but neither of us knew what it actually felt like. In a way, we did because we were raised by the same man, my great grandfather, but the both of us knew it wasn’t the same. He was a great man who did everything he could for the both of us, but there was always a pit in the bottom of my stomach that would grow deeper and deeper every time he tried to fill the void my dad had left. My great grandfather was never meant to play the role of my dad, but I respect him for trying.
By tamera pierce6 years ago in Families
Thankful Thoughts
I’m thankful for my son. For his giggles, his creativity, and his random hugs. I’m thankful for having his unconditional love.
By Sabrina Weigel 6 years ago in Families
Thank You For Being In My Life
It is that time of year for the united states, the thanksgiving wreaths are brought from the attic, the smell of pumpkin pie baking in the oven, the parades are starting to come together, and lastly, the family would usually gather around and share a turkey. However, this year's thanksgiving looks a little bit different. Hopefully, people will be smart about spending thanksgiving together. Anyways, with thanksgiving around the corner, it got me thinking about what I am thankful for. 2020 has been a struggle for all of us, some of us lost jobs, some lost the opportunity to travel. For others, 2020 was a challenge. A lot of us encountered challenges, which we have never faced before due to the pandemic. Despite the challenges and hardships I still have something to be thankful for. I am thankful for my family, I know this sounds like a cliché but it is true. Together we have been through a lot, we traveled together to many places. We took a road trip to California, we visited museums and explored beaches and new cities. One of my favorite pictures that I kept with me all this time is one, where I am with my sisters, they are both in colorful bathing suits and there's me wearing a pink tee-shirt that read California and there were palm trees printed on it and I am wearing red shorts. I don't remember why I did not have my swimsuit, but for some reason, I did not bring it with me to the beach. Even though it was clear we were having a beach day. We all have a smile on our faces and we are playing in the waves. It is my favorite memory of my family, my dad was taking pictures of us, my mom was watching us from the sidelines, but smiling at us as she suntanned. We would rush to the sand from the water and eat salty chips. We traveled to Europe together and for the first time in my life, I saw amazing cathedrals and salt mines. We went to Hawaii together before my oldest sister got married. Aside from the great trips, we took together my family was always there for me.
By Adrianna M. Braun6 years ago in Families
Sympathy for the Devil
The sun from my partially open venetian blinds woke me, a single band of light falling across my eyes. I propped myself up on an elbow and looked at my alarm clock. 9:35am. I stared sleepily at the numbers, until jarring anxiety made me throw off my covers and jump out of bed. School. I was late for school! Why didn’t my dad wake me up?! The bus came at 7:30 every morning, I had missed almost two periods of class by now.
By Carly Doyle6 years ago in Families