Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
The Risk of Not Knowing Your Child's Face, and the Unthinkable Danger of Not Knowing Their Favorite Things
One day, a couple of years ago, I was watching TV, when an Amber Alert ticked across the bottom of the screen. It was for a 16-year-old boy in the next town over. The description the parents gave the authorities and media in an attempt to find their son shocked me. It read: "16-year-old black male, black hair, brown eyes. Last seen possibly wearing blue jeans, and an unknown shirt. Witnesses reported four abductors as also being black males, in an older model blue car."
By Genealogy Freak7 years ago in Families
Children of Divorce
As I’m writing this, tears flow down my face, stemming from a pain that I thought wasn’t there anymore. A pain that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. A pain that only writing has healed over time. When my parents first separated, everyday was hard. After a while, some days became easy, and only some were hard. Now I am at a place in my life where most days are easy, and only a few are hard. Those are usually the big days, the holidays, the birthdays, days where I daydream that our family is back together. Days where I envision going to “my parents'” house instead of one or the other’s. Today is not big, but writing this made it "one of the those days."
By Mariah Dunn7 years ago in Families
Losing a Sibling
My oldest brother, Arthur Jr., always looked out for his younger siblings. I remember him making things for me at school and presenting them to me, his baby sister, with so much pride. He was in the third grade by the time I was born. He and I never even went to the same school due to our age difference. Although we became distant for a few years as adults, by the time he and his third wife separated, we were close again.
By Valerie Furr-Collins7 years ago in Families
A Gift that Helps: Four Special Online Shopping Finds you Can Buy your Mom
Buying something for yourself is one gleeful thing, and buying for the people dear to you is another sweet one. What a great delight it is to give love and appreciation to your parents through material gifts, aside from the intangible things.
By Nicole Ann7 years ago in Families
I Don't Want to Be a Mother
I love children just as much as the other person but the older I get, I'm settling into the idea that I might just be the fun aunt. I was raised in a very traditional Caribbean household where children are a must. I was the third of four children. My two eldest siblings already have children and I'm at the age where it's socially expected to start a family. But I STILL have reservations and here are my reasons:
By Shari Shanice7 years ago in Families
Changing Names? Here's Why I'm Doing it
My name is Brent Michael Benton, but not for long. I’m changing my name and here’s why. I was raised in sunny Durban, South Africa, by three strong women. My mother, my grandmother and my aunt. These three women moulded me into the man I am today. I was raised in a Catholic home. Thus my names were derived from that of my father and an icon from the Bible—Brent being my father’s second name and Michael after Saint Michael the Archangel, leader of the army of God, against evil forces. My father, was an absent father. I have no memory of him from my childhood, aside from a photo of me as a baby, perched precariously on his lap. As I got older, I knew of him and knew who he was, but never got to know him in the way a father knows his son. This, unbeknownst to me, was setting me on a very curious path in my self-discovery.
By Michael Delagua7 years ago in Families
I've Created a Monster
From the time I was a little girl, maybe at age 7, I have been obsessed with anything outdoors because my “Grampie” took me everywhere with him. This meant that I would help him move tree stands, scout deer, and roam the outdoors looking for an animal to spot. He took me hunting for the first time when I was 8. I can still remember that season like it was yesterday. It was late November, there was about two feet of snow and it was frigid outside. I thought that I had hypothermia in my toes, but I stuck it out because I wanted to make him proud. I really didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing but I knew what the goal was, to kill a deer. As the season passed, I never got a deer. However, I did not let that discourage me. At the end of the season he gave me a simple, “Well?”
By Gabrielle Cherry7 years ago in Families
Why Your Mom Is the Only Valentine You Need
I know Valentine's Day is over, but it comes back every year with the same memes in a rotation that make some people laugh while others feel miserable about being single. Why do we feel miserable about being single on that one particular day more than ever? Because we see everyone around us being extra and showing love to their partners on that one day of the year instead of all year round? And honestly, let's face it, more than half those people celebrate the day just so they have something to post about. Most of them probably end up arguing about something or the other that night—whether it's about the choice of the restaurant or a surprise that failed to meet expectations.
By rantingmystressaway7 years ago in Families
Survivor Girls
2005 was the hardest year for my family and I. Being a little girl and losing the world you once knew is something you can’t quite grasp unless you’ve lived it. I remember we were sitting in the living room watching the news the night before Katrina hit. We were honestly contemplating staying and riding it out because they only classified it as a category two hurricane... good thing we left! I remember mom'soms boyfriend at the time screwing big wooden planks on the front and back door just for support even though we didn’t think we’d need it. I remember packing up my mom's Honda Pilot with a bag of clothes for only a few days.
By Meghan Heckmann7 years ago in Families
