Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Family Jewels
July 1, 2000 Hoxie Arkansas is a sweltering hot day. This is a "One Horse Town". Four corners a traffic light and railroad tracks running through. My grandmother Arnette bequeathed twenty thousand dollars to me to execute her estate. Her home is the last asset to close the estate.
By Cara Arildsen5 years ago in Families
A Wonderful Man
His name was Claude Hughston Enochs. When I met him he was 80 years old. My husband, young son, and I traveled from San Francisco to the mountains of Woodside. Hugh’s hacienda-style house sat on the side of a steep hill that overlooked Palo Alto and a wide swath of the peninsula and east bay.
By Caroni Lombard5 years ago in Families
How to Create a Legacy Box
When I woke up on February 5, 2020, I had no idea that by 5:00 pm I would get a call from my tearful uncle and a somber ER nurse begging me to come to New York as soon as I could, or that I would drive seven hours through a blinding snowstorm to get there, knowing only that Mom might be dead before I arrived.
By Jana Van der Veer5 years ago in Families
Nope, just nope
It should never have happened. My mother is in memory care, in a nursing home. She has Alzheimer’s. That is a horrible disease. She will actually die from it one day. One day, her brain will forget how to swallow food. She will forget who I am, she will forget her beloved grandchildren, she will forget herself. I have accepted these facts. But I can’t accept the fact that someone brought Covid 19 into her protected bubble. Nope, I can not accept that.
By Meg Lagares5 years ago in Families
Incestry.com
Many years ago - so many I don't remember, but well before I had children - my father's mother sent me a package in the mail that contained a complete set of generation charts my Aunt had labored on for years. My father died when I was three so she thought I should have them. I remember opening it and looking at the first page and seeing my mothers, fathers and my names on it, contemplating the rest and closing it again.
By Terri Ruley5 years ago in Families
The Black Book
The scent of lavender permeated the air, making Abby suck in a deep breath. She had always loved this garden, or she had before she was ever born. She was still trying to get used to the idea that she had lived a whole other life she barely remembered. Not that, she had really all that much of a good life now. Not compared to Caroline and her suspicious inheritance. She stood on the bridge looking down at the water that was a bright violet color, everything around was bright purple making Caroline's blonde hair stand out all the more.
By InkGalaxies~5 years ago in Families
Mothers
My Birth Mom My mother was never the best representation of what a mom should be like, but she was the mom I had my entire life. To me everything she did was normal to me. She held me back from really experiencing normal childhood things such as school field trips, meeting family, going to friends houses, or having friends over. I couldn’t do school activities after school. My life consisted of going to school coming home, doing all the chores in the house, and babysitting my younger siblings. And once I was old enough to get a job, I worked all the time. I was just a kid and was burnt out by the time I got to highschool.
By Just Fantasy5 years ago in Families
First Born
My sister is three years older than me. She was the long anticipated, and much adored first child. My parents desperately wanted children, if only because it was what you were "supposed" to do. My mother’s basement is still full of photo collages and framed images marking every milestone. Though they had a modest income, the Sears Picture Studio was always an option to document Anne’s growth. They still talk about the activities they did, the walks to the park and library, the way Anne learned to read long before Kindergarten, and sending her to school early because she was ready a year early. They talk of all of her achievements and accomplishments, of the better days that were before siblings were born.
By Amelia Porter5 years ago in Families
