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.
The Little Black Book
My Grandma’s always been kind of weird… Well I guess that’s no way to start a new journal is it? Besides, I never know, maybe this will be the next journal to be largely published and become famous in my death; or at the very least it’ll be made into some sort of crazy science fiction fantasy epic with all the big budgets and everything that comes with those type of big Hollywood affairs. After all these words that I am about to write down will seem pretty farfetched, I assure you though, this all really happened. I suppose I should introduce myself then, just in case there’s someone else who’s going to be reading this. My name is Sue Hardy, and what I’m about to write down in these very pages is nothing short of mind blowing.
By BWS Studios5 years ago in Families
Passed Time
Lorraine and Melvin got married twenty four years ago, and their clock stopped working twenty one years ago. The clock was a wedding present that sat atop their mantle, hands unmoving for eternity, or at least until they replaced the batteries. But they had been procrastinating buying new batteries for twenty one years. Originally out of laziness, but by now the batteries had grown more expensive than it was worth to invite that incessant ticking back into their lives. It would be nice to have the clock work again, but Lorraine had to admit she enjoyed having a quiet, peaceful living room to read in. Her father had loved it dearly when he owned it, for it was his oldest antique given to him by his father, but he decided to give it away along with his daughter so she could have a piece of her dad with her for the rest of time. And for that reason alone, Lorraine couldn’t bring herself to get rid of that broken old clock.
By Grace Flowers5 years ago in Families
The Father's Line
Sunrise in the outback is a surprisingly noisy event. Even as the first dusty colours creep out to play across the horizon, the kookaburras start. Rich percussive calls, bouncing off the crisp air giving permission to the smaller birds to start their own tweeting and squeaking through the bush. Only a few birds at first but before long, as the rest of the colours begin to join their siblings in the sky, the whole landscape comes alive with sound. And in the midst of it all, a majestic song begins, following a melody as complex as the very land it reverberates through. From his perch at the top of an old dead Eucalypt the Magpie calls in the morning, and everyone, it seems, even the Earth herself, stops to listen.
By Steve Nossiter5 years ago in Families
Mama
I closed my eyes to get some sleep when I felt her reaching out to me for me to hold her hand. She did not want me to leave her side that night. It was a few days before she passed away. Mama had been sick for many years with heart disease. Her health began to rapidly decline two months before she passed away. Let me go back a bit. In 2001, my father passed away from a massive stroke. So, for eighteen years it was just Mom and me. We were always together. Wherever I went, she was with me. And wherever she went, I was with her. In the last five years of her life, she began to get weaker from the heart disease. She had her third heart attack in 2014 and it was then discovered that her heart was only functioning at 40%. However, my mom was a fighter. She stayed strong and kept fighting until she was too tired to fight. After her third heart attack, she made the decision to become a DNR patient. Meaning, that if something was to happen and she was to flatline, she did not want to be resuscitated. Her saying was if it was her time to go then let her go. Of course, I and my siblings did not want to entertain the thought of anything happening to her. This was our mom. We could not imagine life without it. I am the youngest of four children. My three older siblings are married and have families of their own. We did not want to place Mom into a nursing home because we were not too keen on having someone else taking care of her. So, since I was the one who was not married and did not have any children, I took on the responsibility of taking care of her full time. I am not going to tell you that it was all rainbows and sunshine because it was not. There were days that it became frustrating and stressful. I wanted to throw in the towel many times because taking care of a parent is not an easy task. But I am grateful that I had the opportunity to take care of her. She was my angel. My road dog. I miss her so much.
By Sholanda Marible5 years ago in Families
Ruby's Purse and The Pandemic
The year was the year 2020, an extraordinary year of both pain and reflection. I was in my early forties, recently divorced, and was working as a nurse on the frontlines in rural Tennessee during a deadly surge of the coronavirus pandemic. Our bed capacity was stretched to its limits and our small staff was overwhelmed and scared.
By Taylor Amy5 years ago in Families
Regret
It was a Friday afternoon just like any other. But not for J.T. He was hung over, tired and most importantly broke. Years of gambling and womanizing had lead him to where he now was - a dingy motel room in a bad part of town. He waddled over to the sink and splashed some cold water on his face hoping it would sober him up. The only thing it did was awaken the part of his brain that drove him to drink in the first place.
By Raul Jimenez5 years ago in Families
The Cabin
She laid in the tiny wood-framed bed, pulling the blankets up close underneath her neck. It was too cold to wake up and she dreaded the thought of her feet hitting the freezing floor. She knew she should get up, put on some tea, start the fire, and prepare for the pain that today would inevitably bring. But the thought of going through her father’s personal belongings brought tears to her eyes. Tears she was afraid would not stop flowing if she permitted them to start. Tears that would inevitably freeze to her cheeks.
By Amy Koller5 years ago in Families
