children

Children: Our most valuable natural resource.

Mystical Mia’s Magical Adventure
Dear Diary, Today is my 7th birthday 10/31/2020! Do you know what's best about my birthday? It's on Halloween which means on top of presents I get candy too! YUM!
By Isabella Spoon5 years ago in Families
Heading to the Butterfly Ball
Catherine was born when her egg hatched on the underside of a milkweed plant in a Rocky Mountain meadow. At first she was about the size of a pin head but grew rapidly over several days in the cool spring air. She had a huge appetite and the more she munched on the delicious milkweed plant leaves the faster she grew. In the early mornings she sipped the fresh dew drops left on the leaves from the night before. She grew so quickly that she had to shed her furry green and black stripped skin several times to grow coats more fitting. She was Catherine the Caterpillar and she was heading to the Butterfly Ball. It was time to dress herself in something more appropriate for a grand ball. She wove herself inside of a silken gossamer dressing chamber attached to the underside of a twig. Inside her chamber she was undergoing an amazing metamorphosis. She grew long delicate legs and majestic orange luminous wings highlighted with dark black markings and white dots. She emerged from her chrysalis a beautiful sight to behold. She was Catherine the Monarch Butterfly and she was heading to the Butterfly Ball.
By Jerry Fisher5 years ago in Families
Waves of Life
Under the notion that we can make the best of this terrible tempest, living our lives against the current in which we cant see. Taken from infancy and tossed here and there like waves out in the ocean. Young as they were friends they would forever be. Their foster home offered some refuge but no love was ever there. Love they often wondered if they knew what it meant, if they had ever felt it’s warm embrace. All four had long ago wondered if they would ever belong. They felt so different because different is how they were made to feel. But something happens when you have friends by your side, the world doesn’t seem to engulf you in it’s negative and often debilitating state of mind. How often would they have given their all if only given the chance. They were labeled and marked and often mocked. Their clothes were worn with tiny holes here and there. Shoes, what shoes for they loved to be barefoot.
By Monica 5 years ago in Families
Ten April's
April 11th, 2008 changed my family's life forever. The day started like any other Monday. I had the day off; my wife ran errands, including shuttling my 8 year-old son to the dentist. While on the road, my son complained of sharp pain in his arm and chest. So, instead of an oral check-up she detoured to a local pediatric urgent care. After several hours of blood work and scans, the on-call doctor shared the diagnosis. The physician found a mass in his chest. She asked my wife and I to choose a regional children's hospital and explained a life-flight helicopter would transport him to whichever one we selected. Knowing nothing about either hospital network, we chose St. Louis Children's Hospital. Within a few hours, the crew whisked my son away, and my wife, parents and I drove three hours to meet him there
By Bryan R..5 years ago in Families
Words I Never Said
Daisy's Diary: Entry One So today, for Christmas, my parents decided to get me a diary. Real girly-like - pink, fuzzy, a lock and key. They think I need to find a better way to "express my feelings". Those motherfuckers mfs really put it in the Christmas card. No "Merry Christmas and thank you for doing your chores all year and getting home by curfew all year and having an amazing first semester at the university we never let you forget we are paying for". So with a smile and the fakest "aww thanks" I could muster up, I thought there was no better way to kick off my newfound expression than to dedicate this first entry to you guys.
By Daisy Lane5 years ago in Families
The Sofabed
The Georgia sun shone relentlessly in through the flimsy fabric covering the living room window, its lacy pattern casting whimsical shadows across the hardwood floor of the studio apartment. Jasmine groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over her head to block the light. 5:30, Jasmine thought, was a criminally early time to be awakened after pulling a double shift at the diner. But there would be no reprieve, since Kit was also awake and tugging at the pillow, her 5- year old persistence more stubborn than the sun’s. “Mommymommymommy-WAKE UP!!”
By Debra Atchinson5 years ago in Families
Treasure Hunt
Maggy and Murphy had their noses pressed against the cold glass of the window overlooking their backyard. "Can we go outside yet?" shouted Murphy. His mother was downstairs washing dishes from their breakfast. Maggy had always been quiet and Murphy did most of the talking in the house. "In a minute!" replied Mother. As impatient as Murphy was, being inside the house waiting for the snow to stop for the last half hour was quite impressive. "Do you remember where the package is?" whispered Maggy to Murphy. "Under the trampoline dummy," Murphy replied, rolling his eyes. They were both greatly anticipating the moment mother released them into the wilderness of the backyard. They both had red down jackets on, black mittens, blue snow pants, green boots, and white beanies.
By Adam Amoroso5 years ago in Families
Family Heirloom
Family Heirloom It's 9:43 in the morning. I’m sitting in the dining room of my parents’ home in my army fatigues. I've called this place home 18 of my 20 years. That homey feeling will never go away, but the people that lived here did. After burying Mom five years ago, my two brothers and I laid our father to rest last week. Cancer got the best of him.
By T.L. Turner5 years ago in Families
Mr Padden
The smell hit you as soon as you entered the door of Number 12, Adelaide Road. The scent could be confused by some, for the staleness created by a house sitting unoccupied for a quarter of a year, but James instantly recognised it as the unique smell of Mr Padden.
By Jon Vontolken5 years ago in Families
What time is it?
She awoke abruptly at 4:44 am; she was shaking and trembling to a voice that woke her from her dream.; while she was sleeping she felt a tickling on her hand all the way down her forearm! There was a tugging and a pulling to wake her up! Tears were streaming down her face and she did not understand what the day was going to bring.
By Brandi Faith5 years ago in Families
The Worst Campouts
Even though I’m thinking back 30 years or more, the ones that come to mind the quickest are always the worst ones. It’s a lot harder to dredge up the sunny-day-swim-in-the-pond campouts than it is to fend off the memories of rain and bugs and cold and heat. Maybe that’s because we catalog the victories in a bigger drawer than the ordinary times.
By William Altmann5 years ago in Families
Somewhere Off the Road
Part I Hiking was his escape, his solace in times of stress. There had been a lot of stress lately; a muddle of questions and doubts. He could try to out-walk it all, but he knew it was always there. It was even there somewhere south of Cleveland, Tennessee: one road after another, each one more bumpy than the last. He had left the old Ford way behind. Stone after stone went by – his downcast eyes stayed on the inclined dirt. This didn’t seem more than a footpath.
By Dan Clark5 years ago in Families