Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Is Crazy Contagious?
A couple of years back, when she was lucid and taking her meds regularly, Joanie opened a savings account for me at the bank. Since I was a minor, her name was on the account too, but I got to keep the passbook. Joanie was not parting with any money so the fifty dollars required to open the account was birthday money from my sister Liv's boyfriend at the time. He was the only one who remembered to get me something. No other deposits were made and the fifty bucks was all that was in there besides the chump change in interest it had accrued. That is, until I came up with a plan.
By Robin Jessie-Green5 years ago in Families
You Can't Get Too Much Winter
The unyielding winter mornings in Montana never fail to impress. The windowpanes layered with a non-negotiable covering of ice and frost always seem to amplify the bitter cold, encouraging the unforgiving chill in the air to surround anything or anyone within its reach. This morning more than most I felt myself firmly held by the winter’s ice-cold and insensitive grip. Not even the inviting aroma of coffee filling the house could shake the feeling that something mystifying was occurring and I had to admit to myself the shiver that ran down my spine had nothing to do with winter.
By Carol Dent5 years ago in Families
My Granny's Hands
I never knew my paternal Grandmother--My dad's mother Doris. She died before I was born. However, I was fortunate enough to have known and loved my Great Grandmother Agnes. She was a loving and huggy Granny and I remember sitting on her lap and listening to her stories-- And it didn't matter that she sometimes spoke Ojibwe and I didn't; Somehow I knew what she was saying, chalk it up to the special magic that only Great Grandmothers possess.
By Jason Fortier5 years ago in Families
Memories of Home
You see that hill right there? The one with the patch of dead grass at the top? I remember sliding down that hill on my 8th birthday. It had been an extra snowy winter, and I was one of those unlucky kids whose birthday fell smack dab in the middle of January. But I loved it that day because that day was the first time I had gotten all my friends together for a sledding party. She’d bought McDonald's and set up everything atop the hillside, it was perfect, even if none of the friends I knew from school showed up. But, that was okay because I had three sisters who were always there. It was a great idea on my mom’s part, and I loved her for it. Not so much when my sled flew out from beneath me and sent me flying barebacked down the steep slope.
By Allie Hamilton5 years ago in Families
Mavis' Treasure Map
Mavis’ Treasure Map by Sharon Bradley Frances walked slowly back from getting the mail at the end of her driveway, her head hung down in thought. She looked well beyond her years, as if she had the world on her shoulders. She absently adjusted and cleaned off the “Mavis Bookkeeping” sign just outside the house, brushing away the dirt with her bare hands. She looked up, hoping it wouldn’t rain. The weatherman had said it wouldn’t. She used to love the rain, but now, she dreaded it as it meant the leaky roof would start dripping water into the attic. Running up to the attic and emptying buckets was one more responsibility added to her list of many.
By Sharon Bradley5 years ago in Families
Where Your Treasure Is Your Heart Will Be Also
The house was old and homely, it had not even been a week since the inheritance from the original owner had been settled, and already the sale for the home had been written up and was to be signed that day. But that is how every house sale that her mother undertook went, she never sullied her hands with an estate for long, and this had never bothered Henrietta before.
By Tamar Biamonte5 years ago in Families
Destined by Ancestral Fate
The story dates to 1995, where a little girl called Solomia was born in a small village in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. Little did she know that her whole life trajectory was going to change based on the following key events: poverty and the desire for a better life elsewhere.
By Xena Kyryk5 years ago in Families
Todd's Anti-Valentine's Day Playlist 2021
I hate Valentine’s Day! I bet if you are reading this, you do as well! The playlist below is my 2021 anti-Valentine’s Day List, and what follows is the story of the inspiration behind its curation. Now this is not a normal anti-Valentine’s Day story. What follows is not about long lost love or missed romantic chances; now I have those stories too, even about the time I ended a short lived rebound relationship by sending an even shorter email simply saying “we are done” on Valentine’s Day. No, this is a story about my hero and how his ever constant memory and inspiration is even stronger around Valentine’s Day.
By Todd Gragg5 years ago in Families
The Five Tasks of Hera Clees
I only met Aunt Helene once. It was a very brief visit, but I remember her piercing eyes penetrating me in a way that felt very intrusive, demanding that I give up every secret and thought I held in my seven-year-old brain. She was rumored to be extraordinarily rich. Nobody in my family ever cared about the details of how this grocery cashier made her fortune. They all sucked up to her.
By Jessica Gray5 years ago in Families
Little Black Book
It devastated Laura Jean to wake up two days ago to discover her grandfather, Henry passed in his slumber, but knew it meant peace without being riddled with pain. They diagnosed him with late stage prostate cancer in August, and she took a year off from college to help take care of him.
By Ashley Zakrzewski5 years ago in Families
