Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
"Millions to One"
It is after midnight. The Kimball residence in South Highlands is dark, save a light on in the living room. Rose Kimball sits alone in her nightgown, overcome with emotion. She laughs, smiles, sniffs and sobs. The middle aged woman looks once more at the well worn “little black book” in her hand, gently closes it, and works to compose herself. Slowly, Rose creaks her way upright, turns out the light and heads to bed.
By Joey D Kent5 years ago in Families
Pennies From Heaven
The dusty tan Impala station wagon slowed to a crawl in yet another tiny town in the southern Okanagan region of British Columbia. Nearly as road weary as the car, a passel of children tumbled out of all available passenger doors as the driver, a woman with dark hair pulled into two long ponytails draped over her ears, eased to the curb along what appeared to be the town’s main street. The woman and the smallest child, a blond boy, headed for a bank across the street from the parked vehicle. The other two children looked up and down the road and then selected a bank about a block away. The girl appeared older, though not much taller than the boy, but she led the way confidently as if she knew exactly what she was doing and where she was going. The boy, looking mildly annoyed followed a half pace behind.
By Maria Calderoni5 years ago in Families
The Final Christmas Tree
Walking the long way back to her seat from Mr. Robertson’s desk, Catherine glanced outside the tall thin window to see if it had started snowing yet. Living in the Selkirk mountains you’d think the children would tire of the deep snow, but to the contrary each new downpour was celebrated. It was almost Christmas vacation and the student’s were eager for long days romping and cavorting through the snowy yards and neighborhoods. At nine, Catherine was a slight girl, the shortest in her class. Short yes, but not in confidence. She and David Stewart, who was of similar stature, constantly vied for the moniker “Smartest Kid in the class.” Though never conferred as such by the teachers, they compared every grade and test and constantly asked for extra work to stay ahead. Both David and Catherine were well behaved and often called upon to be the teacher’s helper. On this particular day they were racing each other to finish the most times table worksheets. Though only third graders they had cajoled the teacher into giving them multi digit multiplication worksheets and each worked diligently trying to finish the most problems correctly. When the lunch bell rang, these two stayed put finishing their final problems until the teacher grabbed their work and sent them off to get lunch. “It’s snowing!” excitedly called a first grader from the eastern corner of the large one room schoolhouse. The first and second graders had the best view outside as their classes faced the large playground and they had larger windows. Everyone rushed to finish their homemade lunches, eating at their desks and then cleaning up quickly. It was a race to get outside and make the first footprints in all the fresh snow! The snow banks were already taller than the tallest children and the untouched snow, though there wasn’t much of that, was at least 3 feet deep. And now more was coming down rapidly.
By Maria Calderoni5 years ago in Families
3 Ways to Tell if your Mother is a Narcissist
When coming to terms with who really raised me, it has taken years of therapy and education to really grasp what has happened to me and how my traumas have uprooted themselves in my adult life. Trauma can dictate how we view the world and how we are viewed in the world so it is important to be honest with ourselves. Sometimes that means taking a deeper look at who raised us, who taught us what to believe about the world and ourselves, who taught us who we are. For most of us that is our mother. Our mothers our 1st teachers. They either directly or indirectly teach us how to interact with the world around us. In my case, my mother was a narcissist by definition. I will discuss three issues that were more traumatic to me than I realized many years later.
By Ashley La'Donn5 years ago in Families
Treasure Hunt
“Mornin' Snickerdoodle, it’s time to wake up.” My Mom says in her soft morning voice. She understands how difficult it is to open my eyes first thing in the morning. “It’s Friday sweetie, yay! I’m going to pick you like a little radish, right out of bed.” I give a little grin because she’s trying. My Mom says dorky stuff like that all the time. “Ugh ok” I utter in a quiet groggy voice. To be completely honest, I’m not ready to leave my warm snuggly bed behind, but I wrap my arms around her neck and she pulls me away from the top bunk. She smells nice having already gotten herself ready for the day and now she’s completely focused on me. The warm smell of fresh coffee invades my nose. I hear our dogs whining to be let out, and the chatter of news reporting coming from the TV in the living room where my Dad hovers over a bowl of cereal. My Mom’s focus remains on me. In a flash, my PJ’s are off and my school clothes are on… I have yet to open my eyes.
By Jennifer Slack5 years ago in Families
Truth In The Secret
Do we actually have the power to change our lives by simply manifesting our hopes and dreams? So many different cultures and people do believe that this is true. That if you simply focus enough on your wants and desires that they will come to you. So many books are written about this, so many Gurus’ and Life Coaches speak of it. Through meditations and practicing conscious mindfulness a person can actually manifest their lives. One of the most popular books that discuss this idea in detail is The Secret. Can a person really ask the universe for something and have it handed to them on a silver platter? This is the question so many people ask themselves? We ask this because so many of us are sceptics, you see just as there are so many believers of the concepts that are written in The Secret there are also so many other ideas in life that exist as well. Ideas such as "We cannot control our fate" or "Your destiny is already written in the stars and you are just riding the wave" These are very popular ways of thinking as well.
By Natalie-Anne5 years ago in Families
Building a Better Matchstick
A long time ago, I went to Russia. I met, fell in love with, and married a beautiful Russian translator. Not long after we married my Russian bride and I were at home enjoying the high levels of humidity that is south Alabama. For some reason, she really wanted to know the location of military outposts nearby. I think she was studying one of her history classes.
By Paul Swann5 years ago in Families
People in my Life
Most of what I write about are my memories and sometimes just my thoughts in general. So far it has been very uplifting and I am proud to say that my stories have been read over four hundred times so that’s something. This story probably should have come first, but Kevin Trost had been urging me to write for years so naturally I made him my first project. Trost was such a likable person and I have been writing about him for a while, so I chose to go the easy way. I've written about others that I care deeply for and still live on in my heart. More are to be written. This next person had almost the most influence on my life as a whole. This is my tribute to my dad, Big Jim Carr.
By James S. Carr5 years ago in Families
A hunt for love
Salt stings my eyes reminding me of the heat as I wipe the sweat from my brow. “She never did like air-conditioning.” I chuckle sadly, sitting in my grandmothers’ house unfolding box after box preparing to pack all the things she gathered throughout her life. Nothing of great value, just old knick-knacks from a time forgotten, books towering upon books of all the fictional stories she loved to read to me, fuelling my imagination. No this is simply a house of memories.
By Emma Cooper5 years ago in Families
