immediate family

Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family.

An Open Letter to My So-Called ‘Parents’
Dear So-Called “Parents”: It’s been almost 10 years since I’ve last seen the both of you. I don’t call you “mom” and “dad” anymore, because when I was younger and reached adulthood, you hardly had anything positive to say about me and use my siblings to turn against me whenever I did something wrong. I think that’s one of the most despicable things you could ever do towards your own child. On top of that, you tell your friends and others lies about me that weren’t true. You would constantly berate and talk down to me. Not only that, but completely lowered my self-confidence. My self-confidence is still low today, because if you had treated me with love and respect more, I wouldn’t be feeling like this right now. To me, y’all were bullying me. The both of you forced me out of my hometown and Texas in general: the place where I grew up for most of my life and y’all call yourselves parents? You took my friends away from me and I’ll never forgive you. I’ve had great friends and teachers who liked me.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 years ago in Families
A crowded mind
“How can things go back to the way they were when so much bad had happened?” It’s a saying from Samwise Gamgee that I think about a lot. Especially with how true it is. These past few months have been a true example of a mental and emotional torment. And a family torn apart cannot be mended so easily.
By Jessica Cortez6 years ago in Families
My Life In Song
Prologue They say that there is always at least one memory as a kid that you will never forget. I sit back at times and think, “What is something that you really remember from your childhood?” and for a while, I drew a blank. Then, one morning, I woke up from a dream in tears. I remembered.
By Luis Cruz6 years ago in Families
My Dad Bought Me A New Mom Online
One day I came home from school a little bit earlier than I usually did, and right at the doorstep, I ran into a man who I'd never seen before. I noticed that he was missing one button on his jacket. But what was really strange is that my mom, who apparently was seeing him off, seemed disheveled and was wearing a robe in the middle of the day. She got a little bit flustered when she saw me and started explaining that that man was a door-to-door salesman and that he came really unexpectedly, right when she was taking a bath, and that’s why she looked like that.
By Vetsko OM6 years ago in Families
Hey dad did you get my text?
My mother & step dad have been together since I was about 6 years old. He has basically been my father figure since my biological one was absent. I am now well into my early 30,s now and my step dad is still one of my biggest support systems. My step Dad is a strong but gentle man. He has the biggest heart and has no animosity in his heart towards no-one. A few years back my mother unfortunately passed away. We both took this very hard and was not sure how to heal from such a sudden lost. My Step Dad then decided to move down south. Leaving me to heal on my own. I could not be angry with him because I understand it was too much for him. I lost my mother & he lost his soul mate. He decided to move down south to be with his sister and family. I felt it was the right thing to do since he was feeling lonely and I had already fled the nest some years prior to my mother passing. I helped him move and went down to visit him for the first year several times. As time went on I noticed the constant daily conversations between me and him slowed down due to the distance. Everything slowed down till the point we spoke once every other month. On my dads part he was not happy. on my part I was in my mid 20’s living my best life and would talk to him when I felt like it. My dad was not having that anymore. It was not that I did not want to talk to him it’s just that certain parents when they loose their partner thier sadness can make you sad as well. I was already miserable because my Mother was my best friend, so to constantly go down memory lane and end up crying for hours as not how I wanted to spend my nights. After a few of those conversations I would try to avoid them on all accounts.
By Serafina6 years ago in Families
Clay Street
Before I write anything about my life, I often start off with a reality or a so-called flaw about myself. It's my way of working through my own patterns and behaviors and simply being as transparent as I can be as I navigate my relationships with other people.
By Xavia Johnson6 years ago in Families
She Paves
This beautiful lady in the photo above is Hodayah. She is a nurse, therapist, teacher, chef, driver, respected janitor, comedian, and my everything. However, professionally she is known to be my mother. These titles she attained through her loving and nurturing air that she boldly carries and exercises throughout all aspects of her life. Whether its dealing with her children, grandchildren, friends and friendly strangers, she is always kind and supportive.
By Human Being6 years ago in Families
Celebrating Herstory
Women didn’t divorce their husbands in 1930. Especially not without a job or way to support your children. But not my grandmother. She was not going to let her sons see her be beaten and abused or worse yet to grow up without a mother at all. So as difficult and dangerous as the decision may have been, she chose to live. Lilly Mae was a woman, an African American woman, and she was a single-mother in the South, during the Great Depression. The odds, were definitely not in her favor. But Lilly Mae, had come from a long line of strong women. Women of faith, educated, and resourceful women. Her mother was an educator. She was not the first woman in my blood line to defy the odds and certainly not the last. As I thought of the women that I felt deserved honor during Women’s History Month, I had to pay respect to my grandmother and mother. They have both taught me how not only to survive, but how to thrive, even in the midst of tremendous trials.
By Dr. Tonia The Communication Coach6 years ago in Families
My Husband, My Hero
The Past At first, it did not occur to me that he was abusive. He didn’t hit me. It wasn’t until after I left that I realised it was abuse. Every type of abuse except he didn’t hit me. He shouted, he lied, he stole, there was financial abuse and gaslighting (I didn’t know what that was until I read about it and realised that’s exactly what was going on). I wasn’t even sure he knew he was doing it. When he took money from me to spend on drink, I don’t know if it occurred to him that it was wrong or if he thought it was somehow acceptable.
By Sapphire Ravenclaw6 years ago in Families
One Wedding Day
My mother woke me with a tender swipe above my cheek and for a second as my eyes seem to draw to focus I thought I saw my mother in her younger years instead of now with grey peppered locks that hung to the left side of her aged face with her glowing life filled eyes of my childhood.
By Sabiyya Brown6 years ago in Families
In Sickness and in Health . . . and in motherhood.
I wanted to write a story about someone other than my mother. You see, mothers can be tricky, because they don’t always do what’s fair or what’s fun at the moment, and they’re really easy to see as imperfect once you realize they’re human. My mother, though, I realized while thinking of a public figure like Michelle Obama or Hilary Clinton, to write about, isn’t just my mom, she’s a woman who immigrated to America from Haiti at the age of 17 and raised me and my siblings in the worst worst circumstances possible, in order to give us a chance at life.
By A. L. Michael6 years ago in Families
MyInspiration
Our Mother are our teachers and educators and they are the most powerful influential people we know. My mother spoke to me when I was very young that she believed in hard work and her mother spoke to her about being a artist of many talents. As time went on I witnessed this is what I would call a blessing and this is what moved me to write about her.
By Queen Sheba 6 years ago in Families