Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Chapter 2: A Somewhat Dad
Uncle Vaughn was handsome tall, funny, and loved me. My mother dated him before she decided to get married. In Trinidad we call men that are older than us uncles. She dated a few people but, he was the first person who sat down on the floor with me and colored with me. I could not have been older than four. And I remember every detail of that man. He was pure sunshine. My heart skipped when I saw him because I knew he would pick me up and spin me around. I knew he gave a s*** about me.
By Rebecca Law8 years ago in Families
An Introspective
About a year ago, in January, I was sat on a train destined for London’s Denmark Hill. There is a hospital there. It is not far from the station and hugely imposing, with corridors so expansive one could easily become lost (and I regularly would). It had been a wonderful Christmas; wonderful, blissful happiness accompanied by a wonderfully blissful sense of ignorance and, I suppose, a youthful hope. In truth, I did not even know that anything could (or indeed would) be wrong. I met my parents at the hospital and, later that day, after confused faces blurred into one tear-marred mirage, a doctor finally decided to admit my mother into the hospital indefinitely. Then, my dad and I drove home, stopping at a restaurant to eat. It was a Saturday night and it was busy and loud, with people simply being wonderfully and blissfully happy. It was an overwhelming typical Saturday night.
By Caragh Taylor8 years ago in Families
Parents Are Encouraging Children to Be Homosexuals with Their "Conservative" Teachings
I came from a Chinese family where it has always been a stigma to talk about emotional stresses, relationships, and LGBT. There was no personal touch between me and my parents. It was more of a dictatorship or none at all sort of bonding, and I? I consider myself open-minded and a liberal thinker.
By Jessica Chok8 years ago in Families
A Toy
I sit on a shelf and I watch. The little girl comes and goes frequently. She doesn’t play with me anymore. I am a frog and I rattle. I have seen many birthdays and many sad days, like the day she took me to the hospital to say goodbye to her grandma. Or the day she turned five. I’m all dusty now and I have moved homes. The little girl got taken away from her family 'cause her daddy hurt her. She was in the hospital a while one time. She slept a lot and hardly picked me up. She constantly brings little children into this room. They come and go. Never the same children. I don’t know why they don’t play with me anymore. The little girl is grown now. She has a big belly. She took me down off the shelf and washed me. I was put into a bed but it has bars. The girl has gone away for a couple days but she is home now. There is a small child in the bed with me. I am getting played with again. The little boy becomes one then two and then three. I watch as he grows older and older but he constantly plays with me. I don’t rattle anymore but he sleeps with me and I haven’t been put on a shelf in a long time. I got taken to a new place and it’s huge. He calls me lucky. He thinks I’m a good luck charm. A few years pass and soon we move again. I am set on a shelf in a little room. It has dragons and knights on the walls. And the bed with bars is in the corner. He takes me to a hospital with him. He is crying. I notice the girl is in the bed. She says he will see him soon and then there is that same weird noise. The same noise that was there when she said goodbye to her grandma. He turns to a girl who is standing next to him. She hugs him and places a hand on her belly. He says it’s time. He rushes her out the door and takes her to a different floor. I am in his pocket. Time flies by quickly and soon I’m introduced to another little child. He holds me and the child as doctors rush past. The kid grows up constantly in the hospital as his mother loses her hair and then her strength. The little boy holds me close as his dad kneels in front of him. He says mommy has to go to a far away place. The little boy is confused. But his mom tells him goodbye and she loves him and then she is gone. I am growing old my time is coming close. I watch the little boy turn five. I watch more years fly by. I have a hole in my side and I have lost all my stuffing. My time is close. I am put in a bag and then a metal box. I hear rumbling and then I feel wind. The bag is with a bunch of other bags. The bags get picked up by a metal claw thing. The bags are dropped in a chute and a weird clanking sound starts up. I see a bright light and then I feel heat. This is it. This is the end. I am close to thirty years old. Most toys don’t live past fifteen. I feel the heat get hotter. I am ready. I am gone.
By Lillibeth Rayanne8 years ago in Families
Lego Wars (Karma)
I used to love playing with Legos. As a child, there was nothing that fascinated me more. Every day after school, I would dump my bag at the door first thing and head straight for my room, straight to where my Lego sets awaited me. And every day I would pause at the door, take a deep breath, squeeze my eyes shut, and try to picture how it would look when I went in. No matter how hard I tried to visualise it, each time I opened the door I would get a wonderful shock. My imagination, no matter how great, was never quite enough to capture reality. And reality was constantly giving me new surprises.
By Eli Sooker8 years ago in Families
When I Grow Up
I was at my niece's nursery graduation recently and made some interesting observations. Before this I had thought the idea of children graduating nursery was a little on the silly side but when I got there, saw how excited the kids were, especially my niece, I realised that going to school is a huge milestone in a child's life. If we can't have pomp and ceremony to celebrate that then when can we?
By 🕷️Vivika Widow🕷️8 years ago in Families
Hardships of a Single Mother
Everywhere you look these days, you will hear about how hard it is to be a mother. That a mother is special, and that we have the hardest job in the world. And it is true, we do. From the moment we learn that a life is growing inside us every mother is faced with choices; some are easy, others... not so much.
By Terry Gill8 years ago in Families
Parenting Wins
Parenting wins. What are those? Ha. As I stare at two laundry baskets overflowing in my living room begging to be folded, the mountain of toys on the rug that I said I would sort through last week, or the two daughters still in pajamas at one PM on a Sunday afternoon, I'm suddenly not entirely sure.
By Cynthia Macapagal8 years ago in Families
