Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
The Big Texas Freeze 2021
We knew it was going to be cold. Really cold. We saw it coming in the 10 day forecast. How cold, we didn't know, but the distinct possibility of below 0F cold was starting to gain traction. I cancelled my daughter's birthday trail ride *again* (first time was because it was going to rain) because the weather on Saturday was going to be a high of 34. The prediction for the Monday low fluctuated between 0 and 9 in the days leading up to the weekend, and by Friday, Chris and I decided we had better go to Costco to stock up on some supplies to hunker down at home for the next 4-5 days. We tried to get firewood, but everywhere we looked, it was sold out. I guess this probably should have been my first clue, but it wasn't.
By Sarah Hatfield5 years ago in Families
Compound
COMPOUND When the choir finished the last chant, and all singers descended from the stalls under the great organ, Philip closed his music folio, climbed down backwards from his high seat, and came around the screen. One singer was left. He could see the others as they opened the sacristy door and disappeared, one after the other, chatting and laughing although they were tired … and probably hoarse. He had played hard that day, and the choir master pushed them all relentlessly. Now they were gone; all except this woman whose face he could not remember.
By Rosanne Dingli5 years ago in Families
To Vivlio ton Oneiron
Darius was a poor young man in ancient Roman times, but a good and loyal Roman citizen. The only opportunity for a young poor man was to join the army. The pay and benefits were good enough to make a promising future and the possibility to fulfill one’s dream, who dared to dream. His family originally came from Greece hundreds of years before as philosophers and dreamers, thinking they would spread knowledge and enlightenment. What they found was prejudice, General Lucius Mummius and the total domination of the world and all they left behind in Greece. Darius could read and write and that was worth more than its weight in gold and also a way to possibly rise in the ranks as a Centurion. Darius was being talked about around the camp as the soldier with a pen in the right hand and a gladius in the left.
By Maria Hernandez5 years ago in Families
Nanas Journal
After Nana’s passing, our family just wanted to go about their lives and mourn in their own ways or just resume life as normal. Nana was old and everyone expected this to happen sooner or later; well, everyone other than Julia. Julia was the only grandchild and her and Nana were close, Julia looked at her more as a mother than a grandmother. Julia spent more time at her grandmother’s house than she did at home because her parents had to work all the time. As everyone else stayed home and went about their lives, Julia decided to go spend the last three days, before Nana’s house went up for auction, in her childhood home and to start collecting all her grandmother’s belongings. As Julia pulled down the long driveway that led to Nana’s Victorian style home, memories flooded her mind, memories of her and Nana playing in the yard and racing down the driveway. Nana use to be so active before she got sick, she and Julia did everything together and all her firsts were in that beautiful Victorian home. Julia parked the car and just sat there staring at the house, remembering how Nana use to take her to, what Nana called, her secret library. It was in that library that Julia learned to love books, reading and writing them. She decided then that the library is where she would start with packing; the books were not worth much nowadays, but they were like gold to her. The library was dark and felt cold, with every wall covered in books and journals from past family members. As she started to turn the lights on and open boxes to pack up all her favorite books, she stumbled across Nana’s typewriter and in it was a note addressed to Julia.
By jessica Wilkins5 years ago in Families
Growing up Adopted
It was a beautiful Pacific Northwest evening in late summer when they finally got the call. "Mr. and Mrs. Lee, you are about to be the parents of a beautiful baby girl!" My mother was in the kitchen knitting a yellow jumper and my dad yelled to her from the hallway, "Lynn! Get in the car. It's time! Our daughter is on the way." They were over the moon. After nine years of trying for a baby, they finally decided to adopt. The moment they had been waiting for was finally happening.
By Wendy Sanders5 years ago in Families
Manifesting 101: for students who desperately need a change.
Manifesting 101: for students who desperately need a change. Moving into student accommodation really highlighted to me why I wanted to stay at my actual home so bad, it is so strange here and everything is a clinical, off white colour. The whole place reeks of feet, old food and a faint punge of cigarette smoke. Nice. I wish I could stay at my own home but I have had to go to university finally, apparently I can’t have another gap year which seems ridiculous to me. I was completely wrongfully accused of spending all of my money and still not having a job, which was not acceptable for my parents. I argued that I had a job, it was merely unpaid. My mother didn’t like that I reminded her of that. They cut off my allowance until I prove to them that I am working hard.
By Carmen Taylor5 years ago in Families
Fence Posts
The loneliness that blows in on a winter wind is comforting in a way. The depth of its darkness, the bite of its chill, the stultifying silence are all old friends, telling the same story over and over again. No surprises. Of course these thoughts were not formed so much as felt by Carl Odegaard the night he left the farm late, entirely too late, to check on that one fence post. The one near the southeast corner of his cow pasture that leaned no matter what he tried, dragging its neighbors down with it.
By Tiffany Hanssen5 years ago in Families
Left with Memories
Juliet Eden stretched her arms and her legs in her private cabin on the train after her long session of "writer's block". She chose the Amtrak Southwest Chief train, because it would take her about a day and a half to get to Albuquerque, and she needed the time to write, and also prepare for the days lying ahead.
By Lacey Gatewood5 years ago in Families
Her
Summer was about to start, a new schedule for everyone. First week didn’t start off to well. He didn’t feel good, still made it to his destination but called it a night. That next morning I checked in, he had my daughter with him, part of the new schedule. Minimal words exchanged, not abnormal for communication between us. He ended up not going to work. He hadn’t missed a day of work in all the years we were married and all the years we weren’t. After my initial playful thought of pigs flying, it sank in. Something was wrong. She was ok, so I didn’t think much of it.
By Candace Gomez5 years ago in Families
The Little House in the Rocky Mountains
I still remember how it felt, when I was 5 years old and we’d make the 10-hr drive through the winding highways of the Rocky Mountains. For some reason when I think back to that drive, I always remember it during winter, and at night. I guess because those times we did make the drive during the winter months were the most memorable. The sky-scraping mountains covered in pearlescent white snow; the thick sea of evergreens capped with fresh powder; the “S” shaped road constantly twisting and turning, our suburban hugging the side of the mountain, a sheer drop toward the valley on the other side. Sometimes I would nod off so the drive would pass by faster, other times it would snow and I would be wide awake. I may have been young but I was keenly aware of the times I’d heard my parents talk about the fatal crashes that happened on the icy Trans-Canada Highway. The breathtaking scenery, the adrenaline rush of traveling at 100+km/hr halfway up the side of a mountain. It was all part of the journey. Of my favourite journey, the one that went home.
By Samantha Kaszas5 years ago in Families
