grief
Losing a family member is one of the most traumatic life events; Families must support one another to endure the five stages of grief and get through it together.
Evelyn's Legacy
My grandmother Evelyn passed away unexpectedly three days before my thirteenth birthday. She and I had always been close. My family’s house was only a few blocks down the street from the senior living facility where my grandmother resided, which was situated on the corner of Maple Avenue. As a child, I would go see her every afternoon after school let out. I loved going to see her; she had the most bubbly personality that had a way of making all of your troubles go away. Grandma Evelyn was my rock when I got older and started having problems at school.
By Amanda Tiffany5 years ago in Families
Mom's black book
One fall day I was walking through the woods behind my house. It was sunny and warm out. The leaves of the trees sparkled with red, orange, and yellow. I was reminiscing about my mother; she had suddenly passed away this summer. She was a very caring person and would go without to give me what I needed in life. Not what I wanted but what I needed. We often walked these woods and make up stories of the things we would find laying on the ground. We could laugh and talk for hours. The silence now made me realized how much I miss her. I went to our favorite tree. The tree was a large oak tree that would keep us dry if it started raining. We would sit here and made-up stories of items we would find. Sitting there and looking around, I notice a piece of plastic in the crevices of the tree. I pulled it out. It was a zip lock bag and inside was a black book. A million thoughts went through my mind. How did it get here? What will be inside? I turn the first page and to see my mother's handwriting was beautiful. I read the words “to my loving daughter I love you always please go and find the box under the house”. So many questions went through my mind. “what is in the box”? “Why is it under the house”? “Why my mother would do this”? Needless to say, I ran all the way home.
By Wendy Bacorn Perry5 years ago in Families
I Will Never Forget You
You don’t know where you are. You’re in a stranger’s room, in a stranger’s bed, wearing a stranger’s pajamas. Your heartbeat accelerates in response to the unfamiliarity. You stare around the room, searching for an explanation. “Room” is probably too generous a term. This is really more of a closet with a bed jammed inside. The walls are too close, the ceiling barely high enough to stand. The bed is built into the floor and the walls. Everything is wood.
By Joseph Haddock5 years ago in Families
Lorine's Lighthouse
“I’m gonna be somebody one day,” said young Darius as he looked out the skyscraper window of his dad’s office. Russell, affectionately chuckling under his breath at his son’s innocence and confidence, chimed in, “What do you mean? Who else would you want to be other than Darius?”
By Mason Britsch5 years ago in Families
"For the Future"
“Here, this is for you.” The man I knew only as ‘Mr.’ slid a small package across the table. I sat still in my seat and stared at the brown paper. “Ya know, your parents never really had much but they still always imagined themselves leaving you something when they passed.” Mr. spoke softly, watching me, his thick accent sounding just like my father’s.
By Zophia Dulaney5 years ago in Families
What We Find Between the Covers . . .
MIRANDA HAD ALWAYS DREAMED OF OWNING A HOME WITH A LIBRARY. She imagined a special room lined with bookshelves, each one filled with volumes that traced the course of her passions from her childhood fascinations with animals, ballet, and Disney tales; through college, when she earned a degree in veterinary science; to motherhood, when she allowed her mind to take full flight, embracing mathematics, astronomy, the history of art and religion, cinema, and scores of other topics that I could only attempt to appreciate and comprehend.
By Jason Liller5 years ago in Families
Second chance
I made one more lap around the block before heading back toward my grandfather’s house. I didn’t want to face all of those people, but even more so I didn’t want to face the fact that he was really gone. My father had left when I was ten and since then my grandfather had done the best he could to help my mother raise me.
By Kristen Minnick5 years ago in Families
SAUDADE
Georgie had the restless energy and unapologetic enthusiasm Lennox had misplaced when her mom died. She’d only known Georgie a month, but the ease between them was like finding long-lost family. Lennox often forgot they had a twenty-year age gap. The older woman had swiftly taken Lennox under her wing while also becoming the best friend she wasn’t looking for. After renting a house with the $20,000 from her mother’s life insurance, Lennox had no idea her only neighbor would become a constant in her life. She’d been so intentional about keeping the world at arm’s length, but Georgie was a force. She was fireworks and sunshine, and the dark cloud that was Lennox ebbed with every interaction.
By Kerri Caldwell5 years ago in Families
A Small Black Notebook
I found it while packing up my father's house, on the coffee table in the den with the brown shag rug. A small black notebook with a soft cover. It looked like one Dad had when I was a boy. He said he used it to write things down he needed to remember. I went back to boxing up books and forgot all about it. My dad died two weeks ago.
By SG Buckley5 years ago in Families
That Which You Need Most
The funeral was the picture of taste and grotesque wealth. It was equal parts my mother’s intricate, overbearing hand and my stepfather’s wallet. That’s what a long-term battle with cancer affords you: the gift of micromanaging your own farewell. The chapel stank of lilies, my mother’s namesake and favorite flower. Personally, I think they smell like a urinal, but nobody asked me. Naturally, it was her dying wish that I take home the most obnoxious of the arrangements, her last opportunity to saddle me with a reminder that I wasn’t her, that I’d never be her.
By Whitney Stone5 years ago in Families
