Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
When Prince Got Me Kicked Out of my Great Grandmother's House.
I grew up in Texas as an only child to a single mother. Once school was out for summer, my mom couldn't afford to pay for childcare, so I typically spent my summers in Mississippi staying with family, namely floating between my grandmother's place and my great grandparents' house. One particular summer while staying with my great grandparents, my young-crazy-cool aunt rented a house down the street from them and I made every attempt to spend time with her. The problem was, her and my great grandmother didn't always get along.
By Erica Roberts 5 years ago in Families
2005 And Me Chapter One: From South Jersey To The Covenant House
Image provided by Wikipedia The year 2004 wasn’t kind to me to say the least. It was a far cry from where I was a year prior in 2003. I had graduated high school and it seemed great things were on the horizon. What a difference a year makes. My mother and I got evicted from our apartment in the Bronx, NY. Late rent and high bill payments took their toll so we were forced to leave. Our neighbor was nice enough to let my mother and I stay there for a while.
By Sakoli Norman 5 years ago in Families
Fear of Knowing Who You Are
If I got shanked for every time I heard the statement "your family are the ones you're born with" I would be dead...and I would rather be...because that's bull-crap. If we were to get into the semantics of family, then yes, they are your blood relatives. But looking at it from a different perspective, they are supposed to be there to support you, accept you for who you are, raise you to be a professional human being, and provide you with the basic necessities for survival. So in context, the idea of family is not always related to who you're stuck with.
By Maideline Sanchez5 years ago in Families
Home is Where the HEART Is
Home! Home is where the HEART is, of course that is what they always say. “Where is my heart and where is my home?” I think to myself. Through the years you move, you locate to where the jobs are, where you think the best schools are, where you can find yourself. Maybe you're moving to something or maybe you're moving away from something. Let me tell you about my home. I live in a small town in East Texas. Since my husband passed away and my grown children have move out on their own, I bought a house right next door to my sister. I live in the town I grew up in where I have many friends and many connections. I guess you would say that I have been home in many places.
By Stephanie Osteen5 years ago in Families
The Little Black Book Challenge
Elizabeth sat across the mahogany desk from a stifled man who was seemingly uptight. He was an older man with crystal blue eyes, that although they were tarnished by multiple folds of sagging skin and unsightly moles, remained beautiful in a haunting way. All of his personality and social skills must have been stuffed into his ill-fitting off black suit, like a man trying on his wedding day tuxedo he'd retired several years prior. His hands, gnarled with arthritis, held onto a black leather book steadfastly; the book itself showing signs of great age. Aging in the way of cracks in binding and cover, crispy pages, and dog-eared pages whose edges would never be smooth again. Golden letters are carved into the face of the text and one side, "The Rules of The Cast." The clock ticked away the minutes as both Elizabeth and Mr. Carmichael, as he had introduced himself, exchanged awkward periods of exaggerated throat clearing and heavy sighs.
By Aaliyah Hanna5 years ago in Families
A history, lost
Having witnessed many changes in my lifetime, I find that I do not enjoy them. Since change is usually—to me—something negative, I find it hard to embrace. My mother calls me stubborn, but I call it loyalty. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for what I consider the biggest adjustment of my life.
By Shawna Blake5 years ago in Families
On My Mind
I hated that I had to struggle so much. I hated that my body always seemed to be against me. Like when I was constantly sick as a kid, like how my parents rarely had health insurance with good coverage, like how even after I got my tonsils removed, I still got sick all the time.
By Caitlyn Curry5 years ago in Families
The Lies That Keep Us Warm
I think I can nail it down to that last Christmas. It was 2010. I had graduated from high school a few months before and my dad had been the accompanist at a new church, Unity, for a while by then. My sisters and I had all grown up Catholic: baptisms, first communions, confirmations, the whole thing. My oldest sister, Elizabeth, had long since moved out and started her own family, raising her two boys with a distinct absence of religion (read: absence of my parents’ influence); and my middle sister, Victoria, had moved in with her boyfriend the year before but still came around to sing for my dad, much to my displeasure. I had never been the biggest fan of my sister’s voice; that would be my dad.
By Caitlyn Curry5 years ago in Families
Finding Warmth
It was a bitter cold that speared through each carefully donned article of clothing, sinking through layers of skin, fat, muscle, until it penetrated deeply to the bone, leaving behind a chill that would never be forgotten. Randall Poehler held himself carefully as he took up his usual position near the subway. His clothing, all threadbare and warn, was doing little to dampen the bone-cold chill that had set in weeks before. The streets of New York were certainly not a forgiving place; a place one down on hard times, such as Randall, might find themselves calling home. ‘Home’ had long since lost its true meaning when he had received his terminal diagnosis and his wife had left him; when his medical bills had eaten him out of house and home, when his daughter had stopped taking his calls and refused him access to his grandson. Randall Poehler was well acquainted with cold and unforgiving.
By Caitlyn Curry5 years ago in Families
Small Town Love
The year is 2003. I am a high school senior in a small town. I’m probably wearing LEI’s and white Airforce 1s. I am popular and involved in my high school. Life is good. Each year my school gives a “Senior Gift.” For one group it was a set of encyclopedias. Another graduating class donated beautiful flags from all over the world as décor for the school.
By Kendra Bingham5 years ago in Families
