Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
The Fateful Morning
It seemed her life ended and began on that early morning. Living so far out of town, sometimes it was easier for Nells to sleep with the kids at her parents' house on work nights, it saved waking up at the crack of dawn, pack diaper bags and drive an extra two hours each day with grumpy babies. This day should have been like every other day, wake up, feed the kids, drive them to day care, go to work, but today was not like every other day.
By Jessica Marusyk5 years ago in Families
A Cry In Aisle Three
Before Andrea opens her eyes, she feels it, the rigid cold air around her. If not for her warm sanctuary under her comforter, she would be freezing. She buries herself further under the covers dreading getting herself out of bed. She tries to cuddle up next to her husband, Will, though she is rebuffed when he rolls over attempting to steal the whole comforter. Defeated, she opens her eyes. The clock on the nightstand reads 5:30am. Reluctantly, she sits up, moaning and shivering. As she sits on the side of the bed, her feet feel for her shearling-lined slippers. Eventually, she locates them and even manages to get each one on the correct foot. She forces herself to stand. Although she is wearing flannel pajamas, she still holds herself and occasionally rubs her upper arms to stay warm. She makes her way across the room to the window. It is still dark outside, but she can see that everything is covered in white, the wind is blowing hard and she wonders if it is still snowing or if the wind is just blowing the snow that has already fallen.
By Robyn Moss 5 years ago in Families
This One's For You
A letter to you, my mother. I’m sorry I could never be enough to make you smile again and I’m sorry that I never made you proud. I want the best for you in all that you do, I hope for your health and I pray for your happiness. You will never be alone in this life as long as you never forget me. I don’t have the world to give you, though I wish I could and I forgive you for the way you saw yourself in me. I don’t resent you for the hurt you rained down on me whilst you were trying to hurt yourself. I miss you, I miss the mother you were once capable of being for me and I know it’s coming back but I miss being a child and being something better to you than a broken fragment of being. My heart breaks for you in all that you’ve lost, your spark, your light, your life. It must be hard having a mind that your body can’t keep up with and I know how you’re feeling, the hopelessness in your soul knowing that no matter what you do, nothing will bring back the life you used to own. I wish I could give it all back to you, I wish that I could heal you and make you whole again and I wish life wasn’t so damn hard that you’re wondering how to make it from one day to another. I can’t give you much but I can give you my hope; it's all I have left.
By Chrisie Hopps5 years ago in Families
Amelia and the Hidden Heart
Amelia was excited. Her father was off on one of his hunting trips again, and with Spring on it’s way they would be making their way to the settlement to trade furs for supplies. All year she spent in their lone home on the tundra. Lately, at every full moon, she climbed the ridge to open the secret door in the moon to join the friends that she had made there. Still, other than that time once a month she saw no one. In the bright of the new morning Amelia excitedly began to pack.
By Jessica Olofsson5 years ago in Families
The Little Black Book
The little black book sat in the chest that belonged to her great grandmother under old quilts, stained letters, and black and white photographs. The black book sat untouched for many, many years. Gloria sat curled up on her couch, it was a gray January morning perfect for sipping coffee in her pajamas. She sat appreciating the quiet and admiring the chest she inherited from her great grandmother when she was a little girl. Gloria closed her eyes and sipped the hot coffee from her warm mug as she thought about the time she was given the chest unbeknownst to her the secrets and fortune that lay hiding inside, untouched, and unknown, waiting for her to find; a little black book. She remembered helping her Grandmother and Mother clean out her Great Grandma Nadine’s retirement home after she had passed, she was ten at the time. They packed everything in boxes. Some items such as pillows and blankets were donated while other things such as her kitchen mixer, glassware, and a few antiques from Europe were passed down to certain family members. Gloria took another sip of coffee and thought about the last time she saw her Great Grandmother Nadine. Nadine was born in England and had lived a long adventurous life. She remembered how her hands felt when she held them while her great grandma lay resting on her death bed. She thought about the last thing her Great Grandmother Nadine ever said to her. It was so hard to make out the muffled words that shakily came out of her tired body, but finally Gloria faintly heard “the book belongs to you”. Gloria remembered her grandmother and mother going over the will and heard her Mother tell her that the chest her Great Grandmother had in her family for generations was going to be given to her. Gloria opened her eyes and looked again over at the chest; it was a Victorian antique made in England. Gloria kept in the corner of her living room. One of the old quilts her Great Grandmother had made was folded and draped over it giving it a cozy feel to the living room. Gloria stood up and walked over and picked up the old quilt and held it up to her face feeling the textured of fabrics sown together by hand and then slowly placed it next to her on the couch. Gloria sat on the floor and gently opened the Victorian chest, she loved the smell of old oak and loved tracing her fingers over the cold brass metal that framed the outer walls of the humped back lid. She thought of it as a treasure chest, she chuckled to herself and thought that in a way it was. She moved the old quilts and keepsakes aside and felt around at the false bottom of the chest for the little leather piece of fabric that when pulled revealed a hidden compartment. The items revealed were a stack of letters bound together with a soft blue ribbon addressed from a name that read Getty. Right next to the letters there was in the hidden compartment was the little black book. Gloria picked it up knowing it could fall apart any moment if she was too forceful with it. She sat back on the couch and opened the cover of the book while holding the bind together with her other hand. Under the cover was a folded-up letter written in her Great Grandmother Nadine’s handwriting. As Gloria unfolded the letter she recalled the moments of her finding the secret compartment that guarded the book years ago. She had memorized the letter from her Great Grandmother but still loved opening its secrets. Gloria read the letter again silently mouthing the words tracing the letters with her fingers, “My Dear Gloria, you have found my fortune. It belongs to you and only you. I’ve always admired your heart. Your soul and spark remind me of your Great Grandfathers. Do what you will with this fortune, I know you will not use it in vain. Yours truly, Nadine.” The little black book was Great Grandmother Nadine’s Diary from the year 1910. Gloria knew things about her Great Grandmother that she would take with her to her grave. Nadine had a secret life no one, not even her husband knew about involving a love affair and oil during the great depression. She had met a man by the name of Jean Paul Getty at the University of Oxford in England. They had travelled around Europe together before departing their separate ways forever in 1912. Gloria didn’t like getting too deep into the details of the diary when it came to Getty, but she liked knowing that her Great Grandmother was in love. There were letters hidden in the compartment of the chest between her Grandmother and Getty. The letters were mostly about oil and how he and his family were investing in an oil Field Holding in Oklahoma. Getty had been sending Nadine money, and lots of it. The money grew and grew and eventually stopped coming once the letters stopped arriving in 1915 when they both had met their life partners and had started having children. Nadine kept the money in the bottom compartment of the safe, afraid to even take it out knowing that no one would believe her if she told them where she had got it from, she also didn’t want to break her husband’s heart, she never told him she had been in love before him. So, she just hid it waiting for the right opportunity to reveal it to the right person, Gloria.
By Ashley Haltom5 years ago in Families
Nina's Goodbye. Top Story - January 2021.
“Mommy!” The scream wakes me with a start. The room pitch black, silent. For a moment I think the scream was just my own bad dream, it wouldn’t be the first one. Since Lizzie passed away, I’ve had them on and off, so has Nina, my little niece asleep in the room across the hall. I’ll never get rid of the image of her clinging to her mom in the ER. Demanding her to wake up. Begging the doctors to bring her back. Cooper, stroking her back and pulling her to him. Trying to explain to a four-year-old why that wasn’t possible. I didn’t think I could fall apart any more than I had when we’d been told my baby sister had died from the accident, but every bone in my body gave out watching Ninas world fall away from her so fast. That was a year ago, Cooper and I were all she had now.
By Francesca Riggs 5 years ago in Families
Am I A Bad Person?
Ok darlings, here’s the what’s going down and I need some outside input. Recently, as in the last year and a half, my mom just got out of an abusive relationship (i’m talking physically, mentally, emotionally abusive). Now she’s been with this guy (let’s call him Bo), for 11 years and he’s actually my brothers dad.
By Madison Smith5 years ago in Families
When Me and My Family Went Missing in the 1970s
A true story. My entire family, my mom, dad, me and my brother all went missing in 1979. I was 14, a freshman in high school. I considered this quaint little town my home. It’s wonderful people, my friends. I was on the drill team; which I loved! I played softball in the summers. I was on a bowling team in the winter. It’s where I became a Girl Scout, rode my bicycle down the Jumbo. Sang songs with my best friend out on the lawn (it was the 70s!). Where I would sing way too loud to the radio and records in my room to the dismay of the boy next door. (I owe him an apology!) Rode my bike everywhere! It is where my grandmother died. Where I got my first job. It is where I grew up. It was home.
By Paula C. Henderson5 years ago in Families
