Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
The Taylor Homestead
This is the Taylor “homestead” in Alderson, West Virginia. It’s been in the family for generations. And now, it’s for sale. It sits on 53 acres, and my parents (who are now in their 70’s and have lived there for 21 years) are finding it increasingly hard to maintain. 😔
By Valerie Taylor5 years ago in Families
How to Lose Your Underwear
I draw a memory from my childhood, a time of embarrassment and humor. Although at the time, funny it was not. I was tall for my nine years, and thin, with long gangling arms. My short black hair did nothing to take away from my self-conscious overbite. I was a sensitive and nervous child.
By Catharine Parks5 years ago in Families
This is Not My Beautiful House
There is a moment before the sun wakes, the air is crisp, and my spot under the weight and warmth of the covers is cozy; I am happy and at home. So happy in this place that I don’t want to move; I don’t want to fully wake and face the reality of the day. I’m free in this half-asleep state, free to dream of a time taken for granted the little things. I remember the feel of the cold tile beneath my feet and the sound of my dogs tap dancing around between my room and the back door alerting me to let them out, the rich smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen, and that quiet time before the rest of the house wakes.
By Shelly Brooks5 years ago in Families
Open Letter To Lesbian Couples Trying To Get Pregnant
I was four years old when I knew I was gay. However, I was 22 when I finally decided to come out. Three weeks after that I married my now wife. Up until that moment I never had to think about the different options of getting pregnant with the person I love. I always had thought i’d be in a heterosexual relationship so there were really no worries. No one seemed to talk about the process for a lesbian couple or even heterosexual relationships that have fertility issues.
By Emily Noonan-Phillips5 years ago in Families
2020 Holiday Season
Well, it looks like Covid-19 is going to take another holiday hostage and our kids will be cheated yet again this Halloween. In our house; Halloween is one of our most favorite holidays. My husband and I grew up a block away from one another and as kids are neighborhood was flooded with kids, I’m talking a small neighborhood with over a thousand kids frolicking. My mom, her friends, their kids, and I would all go trick or treating together. We would then go back to our house, my mom would lay a sheet down on our living room floor and we would all dump our candy on the floor while my moms and her friends were probably getting drunk somewhere in our house. One of the best parts was we all would trade candy with each other. I would literally trade everything I had for Reece’s peanut butter cups. My mom also decorated the house amazingly. Every kid had to see the “good witches house” a name she accumulated over the years. I can vividly remember Halloween in our neighborhood like it was yesterday.
By Diana Doubrava5 years ago in Families
eyes half-opened
It's a bright, sunny, beautiful day. Outside anyways. But inside it's a different story, it's raining, and gloomy, with little chance of letting up. Hurricane Madi is in full force, catastrophic damage. Damage to herself, my house, and sadly others. See, she doesn't do it with malice, or deviousness, she's autistic, and doesn't really know what she's doing. She can't talk and when she needs something and can't communicate she proceeds to bang her head off everything cement blocks, pavement, counter tops; EVERYTHNG, she doesn't discriminate! Alysa will walk by her not even saying a word to Madi and Madi will haul off and start beating Alysa up. I'd tell Lysa that Madi doesn't understand what she's doing and why. I would explain Madi's brain is like a bunch of wires that are connected properly, and her brain isn't quite like ours. My heart shattered, she was too young and didn't understand. But that didn't let the "love taps" stop her. She was going to go play with her sister. They were sisters first, diagnosis later. They played hard everyday. She can get distracted by a butterfly fluttering by.
By Katie Schwenk5 years ago in Families
70% Of Women Report Pressure From Increasing Childcare Due To COVID, New Research Reveals
Women are doing significantly more housework and care-giving than men. That's according to new research carried out by LeanIn.org which proved that because we are all being asked to work from home during the Covid 19 pandemic, the burden of doing housework is regularly being put on women and is undoing years of work in undoing gender stereotyping which has in the past always said things like:
By Ashish Prabhu5 years ago in Families
It's just me
Well, hello! My name is Nikki. I'm almost 36 years old. I'm a mom to a 12 year old boy who is nonverbal on the ASD spectrum. I have a lot of medical issues that i deal with every day, as well as mental health issues i battle and struggle with along the road. I'm just a chick with a lot of issues, who is trying to make my life a little better and maybe give someone something to read that they like. I have always wanted to be a writer, since I was a kid. I always read at a higher grade level than the kids in my class, so yeah I didn't have a lot of friends growing up. My mother (aka incubator) wasn't around from the time I was about 4 until I was 14 years old. She had my younger siblings, but my dad had custody of me because she couldn't ( or wouldn't) take care of my disease. I am a type 1 diabetic, what some doctors call a "brittle diabetic" because the smallest thing throws my blood sugars all over the place. I was raised by my dad, my nana, my poppy, two of my aunts and my three uncles. I am also the only one out of my three siblings to never have any problems with the police or be arrested...So, I got that going for me! lol. I'm actually kinda close to my sister, I used to be super close to my brother but...life happens. Wow...I'm getting stuck on what to write here... I'm not sure what anyone would want to know, or if this is even interesting in any way,shape or form. My life has always been a roller coaster. There's so many up, downs and twists it would put the Superman at Six Flags to shame. Never mind the repeated drops! The way my life has been, one would expect me to be crazy, I mean, I kinda am but yeah...Because of the way I was raised, because of the way my life went growing up and right up until I had my son; it made me stronger than I could ever have been otherwise. I think the stories I write here will be about different events in my life. Different things that have happened, as well as a few updates on some stories, depending on what that story was about.... I'm not sure if people can message on this site, but if you can, PLEASE, message me and let me know what you think of that idea... I'm here to get this stuff out and in the open once and for all. I have A LOT in my head and on my mind to write about. I just don't know what to write, if that makes any sense what so ever. I can give an example right now of things that get to me all the time, but I generally keep my mouth shut about. I just looked on my Facebook, and my biological mother posted a meme about how everyone knows at least one shit talker or one person who speaks fluent shit... I reallllly want to write a comment on it and say "Oh...like you?" but I won't because I don't have the energy to even start that fight with her or her minions.This is the same shit posted by the same woman who caused me to go into labor with my son almost 2 months early over a comment made about my son's father. The same woman who completely took over MY wedding and ruined it. The same woman who doesn't even know her grandson, but constantly posts comments about how much she loves him. Also, the same woman who fucked up raising her own 4 kids because guys and drugs were more important, and is now raising my niece and nephew because my sister has mental and medical issues. This woman has a huge messiah complex, but the problem is she has way too many skeletons in her closet and secrets from her past that too many people know, her family included. But, like I said, if you guys want to hear the stories, let me know please. Hope anyone reading has a great night. See ya next time
By Nicoletta Morris5 years ago in Families
