Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Families.

The Longest Game
“Have you seen this man? He looks exactly like me!” An elderly gentleman and a young boy, in his late teens, were stood conversing. The young boy was holding a picture—it looked to be a picture of himself. How odd—he must be looking for his twin. At least that’s what the elderly gentleman thought. Still something unusual was occurring. The young boy was rapidly aging. He’d gone from late teens to early twenties in a matter of seconds. The young boy sighed and ran off, waving at the elderly man.
By Mr EE7 years ago in Families
The Truth About Single Mothers
What comes to mind when one hears the term “single Mother?” The word ‘difficulty’ is a given, and you may also consider words like ‘strength’ or ‘persistence’, and you would be correct. With the title, there is apparently a certain air of respect and honor attached, although many are using it completely wrong.
By Angela Brigance-Vance7 years ago in Families
First Time Parents
First things first Freya, you need to learn that life isn’t fair and you need to deal with it. The sooner you learn to deal with it, the sooner you will be happy. Okay, yeah, that is bollocks. Yeah, life is unfair but there are things that can be done to help reduce the level of unfairness! You need to look at it like this, it’s all about comparison. There may be others who are better off than you but there are others who are a lot worse off. Like today, Sam was at work and you were at home with Jaime, fair enough, that’s how things are and you wouldn’t have it any other way. You love spending time with her! You are so lucky to get all this time with her. Mothers in America go back to work so soon after having a baby. I’m sure so many of them would do anything to stay at home with their babies but they can’t afford it.
By Freya Walker7 years ago in Families
The Answer, the Diagnosis, the Heartbreak
After Ryder's liver biopsy clarified that he didn't have Biliary Atresia, I went through a stage of resentment. Don't get me wrong, I was beyond grateful that he wouldn't need a liver transplant, but I began to get frustrated with the hospital. I didn't have much confidence that we would get our answer with the genetics test because initially, his liver specialist requested the test for "Alagille Syndrome". Both his dad and I did some research and looked more into this genetic disorder, and the symptoms simply did not match with our son. I thought this genetics test would end up being a waste of time. About a month after his test, I received a call from his liver specialist. The results were in and as I suspected he didn't have Alagille Syndrome. What his specialist did seem concerned about was something called a "Pex1 Gene." It's a shortened term for Peroxisomes, which is an important organelle found in all eukaryotic cells. They are involved in the catabolism of very long chain fatty acids, branched chain fatty acids. This Pex1 gene is basically an important part of all major organ systems to function properly. What this test showed was that Ryder had an elevated amount of "Long chain fatty acids" which meant there was a mutation in his Pex1 Gene. His specialist said not to worry just yet, they were going to send his results to a geneticist to see if there was any concern. He said, "There are people walking around every day with highly elevated long chain fatty acids that function normally and don't know." The phone call ended with me being a bit confused but I wasn't too worried being that his specialist wasn't worried just yet.
By Kayleigh Sayer7 years ago in Families
Becoming a Single Parent
Single parenting is often the result of engaging in unprotected sex in the heat of a moment. For some women, this may be a welcoming life-altering experience although it involves raising a child alone. There are also those women who view this experience as unwelcoming because of the obvious changes and priorities must be reevaluated. I have often heard from my elders that the best way to avoid becoming a single parent is complete abstinence until marriage. Overall, I knew this belief was true because I had attended junior high school and high school with pregnant teenagers, most of whom had boyfriends who had abandoned them once they realized a baby was on the way.
By Nathonia Smith7 years ago in Families
Trouble with Divorce
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes divorces end really good. The child is happy and the now exes are happy. In most cases, that is not the story. It’s a rare occasion to have a perfect ending in divorce.
By Brunswick W7 years ago in Families
False Accusations and the Harm It Can Cause
I will never forget the feeling. My heart sank and I felt all the tears gush into the corners of my eyes. Why was this happening? What did I do wrong? What's going to happen? No, not my babies. I couldn't focus. A voicemail left saying, "This is Child Protective Services. We need to speak to you."
By Ash astrid7 years ago in Families
Non-Profit Organization
I have an idea for a non-profit, which is to establish a non-profit as well as shelter, dedicated to helping people escape abusive families, as well as get on or off disability. This non-profit would serve people who have disabilities in my community but not have an attitude about it like Momentum for Mental Health or NAMI. Such non-profits have an “uppity” air about them as if your disability matters way too much. I need to staff my non-profit with staffers who understand my mission is to serve disabled people. The non-profit would need to compile resources such as staff, as well as a shelter location.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in Families
Childhood Bullying
I remember those lonely, hard school days. Nobody would have believed how sad I really was because I always tried to fake a smile and pretend that everything was alright. I would dedicate myself to my schoolwork, even though I struggled, talk to other children, and try to engage in all aspects of school life.
By Carol Ann Townend7 years ago in Families
The Next 4 Months
The Best Day of My Life My pregnancy had been the longest and most difficult phase of my life but as soon as induction day arrived, it was a blur. I remember seeing Ryder's face for the first time and the world had stopped. It was almost surreal. This is the beautiful little boy I had cared for in my stomach for 9 months and now he's finally here. It was a lot to take in but it was also such a beautiful moment. For the first time, I felt unconditional love. Ryder was the most precious and sacred form of life. My hopes and dreams were now in physical form and in the palm of my hand. I couldn't help but stare in complete awe. Although he was completely perfect to me, the nurses quickly became concerned with the coloring of his skin. They determined him to be "jaundiced" and within a matter of minutes he was taken from me and set under "therapeutic blue lights." As a new mother, this broke my heart, but little did I know this was nothing compared to what we had ahead of us. Afterwards, I was granted the time back and spent most of the night with skin to skin contact to see if it helped calm down the jaundice. The morning after Ryder's birth, a technician came in to perform his newborn hearing screening. During the test I was chit chatting it up with my mom with absolutely no concern regarding his hearing. I mean what mom is initially worried about their son failing his hearing screening? The test finally finished and the technician told me he had failed his screening in both ears. My mom and I completely stopped our conversation in shock. I thought I had heard her incorrectly. I started to cry a bit. No mom wants to hear that their son might have a disadvantage ahead of them. The technician quickly reassured me it was normal for infants to fail the first time and it was probably just fluid in his ears. She said she would come back tomorrow and check again. This helped me relax a bit. It must be the fluid... no one on either side of our family has any hearing issues. There wasn't anything to be concerned about. The next day she came back and he failed in both ears once again. I had a pit in my stomach. The technician still assured me his hearing could still be okay and to come back in a few weeks to try again in case its taking the fluid awhile to drain out. I remained hopeful and tried to put the situation in the back of my mind. I mean we were still concerned with him being jaundiced any way. The therapeutic lights seemed to help his bilirubin levels and we were released on time. We went home with our little boy and things were looking up. Everything was going to be okay.
By Kayleigh Sayer7 years ago in Families
Teen Mom: The Resulting Child
Most everyone you talk to will have some friction with a parent or relative. Maybe this is because of a wrongdoing from childhood, be it unkind words, physical abuse, neglect, or any number of traumas that often come with raising another human being. While the severity can differ it can be hard to find closure or acceptance of yourself when you have been wronged by someone meant to love and protect you from the harshness of the world. I've found myself recently struggling with the strained and essentially nonexistent relationship I've had with my mother. I understand that my experience isn't the worst by far, but I hope to share some of the insights I've gained.
By Vickie R7 years ago in Families
Honeysuckles
The sound of my boots crushing the autumn leaves sends a feeling of relief. The amusing sound of autumn reminds me of the crisp air and smiling pumpkins. Sounds of children fill the forest even though all I could see was brown and orange. I’m alone. In fact, I’m accompanied by my thoughts and hums. A tune we are all too familiar with:
By Queen Jordan7 years ago in Families