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.
She was, and then she is no more.
Iqiaqtiq had a favorite pass time for the cold dark winter nights. She and her mother would sing together while cleaning up the house. This helped her forget the bad things that happened to them all too often. "Mother has a voice like angels"- thought Iqiaqtiq, and she wished that when she grows up, that her voice would be just as beautiful. She and her Mother would recite the scriptures and sing till the house was clean.
By Oeta Sanchez5 years ago in Families
I Still Love Fall
Ever since I was real young and the first time I've ever went trick or treating on Halloween, I've always adored the season. Putting on costumes, gathering with other kids and walking door to door collecting treats while seeing other kids going around in their costumes always brought such festive joy. The fireworks, festivities, pumpkin carving and those tasty roasted pumpkin seeds are always just a few more things to look forward to every year.
By Stacey Sikora5 years ago in Families
I can’t find a heartbeat!
You never think of researching something until it has happened to you or a loved one. This has been the case when I was diagnosed with narcolepsy, when I came out as transgender, and now. How many of you honestly knew October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day?
By Bryce and Val Marie Henderson5 years ago in Families
Road Maps
When I was just a little girl, my dad made one of the biggest decisions of his life. As a single parent and having nothing left to lose, he drove us across the country to start over. All I remember bringing was a small embroidered nap sack with an Aztec design on it, and inside it held my few rubber lion king toys. I spent the duration of the week-long drive playing with those toys on a tarred-up dashboard and hot leather seats pointing out birds on the road up ahead so my father wouldn’t hit them. “Nicole you have the eyes of an eagle,” my father would say as we drove down the highway. Sometimes, I would spot those birds miles before my father could even make them out at all and even with my keen vision, I didn’t see the courage that move must have taken my father until much later in life.
By Nicole Booth5 years ago in Families
Her Irish Soda Bread Lives On
It starts with flour and baking soda...no, scratch that. It started with a steamer trip across the Atlantic on the RMS Queen Elizabeth. Born in Paisley, Scotland, of Irish decent, she traveled alone at the invitation of relations abroad to make her new home in America.
By Judy Loughman5 years ago in Families
Let Them Have The Jewelry
When a loved one dies, memories flood our consciousness and conversation. Naturally, the predominant discussion is of how much the deceased will be missed. That’s not all that happens. As a dear friend once told me, “families fall apart during weddings and funerals”. All too often, fighting over material things occur resulting in hurt feelings. While everyone else is fighting over the jewelry, there is something you can do that has far move value than a piece of metal or stone.
By Ersula K Odom5 years ago in Families
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?
My parents married on the 18th. of December 1964. My mother had five children at the time. I came into the picture on the 15th. of October 1965, I thought I had an awesome life! My father was a farmer, outfitter, rancher. My mother cooked at one of our local small town restuarants. So I had many experiences growing up on a farm and learned a great many things. I had a big family( 2 sisters, 3 brothers) . I thought I was loved and wanted... but. Certain things didn`t add up after a while.
By Sandra Myers5 years ago in Families
The Beginning of My Life
nd th afave been thI am starting a new chapter in my life wanting to share what I have been through. I have taught myself everything up until now being on my own since the age of 15. I have endured so much being so young, coming across so many people with the wrong judgment of you, and the worst part is when your family is so judgmental you tend to set things straight when they find out what you have been through. Not believing you because remind you when you have help, it is totally different. When you are actually alone, back up against the wall, learning, it is the hardest thing you can go through mentally, and physically. Being you and people take an advantage of you because they know you are alone. I have been robbed by people i loved, loved, did not know, and knew but never k ew why it happened. I am suffering for just trying to even make something of my own, but when I get where I am trying to go, a simple life then I will always keep it and be happy. Maybe one day, I will have a future to grow on. People seem to change when they see you want better, seeing you struggle and realizing they really wanted nothing to do with you. Being there for others helping them achieve something just to never see you again. Or when they see you they act as if you are not the one in need. Looking, laughing, name-calling just the things that seem to really be unnecessary. Love seeing you alone, depressed, angry, frustrated. People who love you do not do things like this. I have had friends lost because of the relationships with family. Now, because of my childhood, what I been through, and where, and how I had grown up, this is what people thought of me. This living condition was not on me, I was the child this is what made me runaway at the age of 15. I was tired of a title I did not possess. I wanted my education so bad. I knew this was something I was going to need to live the life I wanted. I started failing and trying on my own because of the age barrier this prevented me from a lot of things I wanted a child. I was on the streets, living with a cousin who I thought would help and love me. I was being used then not knowing. I helped this cousin even years later, get a home they have today. It should have been me. Feeling sorry for the child that I didn't have, but who I loved because she was family I helped. I can't even call her for a ride to the store without giving $10-$15 in gas money. I have not been invited to the home still 2 years later, that I also helped her with. I thought having a boyfriend would keep me company, I was looking for love. But I look up just to be alone, and sick walking to and from work. Sleeping outside waiting on a check to come. He was never anywhere to be found. As if he was watching me because when I was able to finally pay for my room, he knocked on my door. The feelings I had, I was just hurting because I knew he did not love me. But he kept me company. He wouldn't even hold me, I figured he needed a place to stay it was obvious after a while. Working wondering why I could not keep money, going to look for it, and remembering it was only one person in my room, my "boyfriend". He would sit there and watch me cry, he didn't want anything but what I could offer. He was one of the reasons someone kicked my door n, shot my apartment up, stole my belongings. On my second day moving into my apartment, my microwave was stolen and he was the first to know and see my apartment. I lost everything and tried everything I could to do or figure out what I needed to do. To know these types of people stick around for what, knowing you are yearning for something you have always wanted love. Money does not buy happiness, you can spend all you want on someone but when it gets hard no one is there for you. You are lonely and lost. Being like this affects how you interact with people, the way you work, and will have you going in circles although everything you do is because of yourself. When I say I did not look to anyone for things that I have needed, and I worked for my motels, foods, clothing. People look at you laughing because they don't believe it just by how young you are. That is heartbreaking. I just stayed to myself for years, just to have a grown boy come around and use me when his mother put him out, or whoever. The days I have been through I think about the way I was treated, I think about it every day. I may need counseling for emotional support, but I have also realized that maybe this is something I needed to go through. To show me how ugly this world can be. What people think of young girls like me, just by how they look. The way a man can look at you, thinking you are desperate for any type of attention. I am pretty sure if I would have slept with any of those men, something would have happened. I was alone and young. I have been profiled by the police they thought I was prostituting. When the motel manager says "No, she is a good resident and keeps to herself" it shows a lot about the system. Being stereotyped because of the area you are in, and they can stop and see you are on your way to work. I fought with my mother for years, not knowing why she was always upset with me. Being told it was my fault because she was 8 months pregnant walking the stage, and how she should have cut me out her stomach is something I will never forget. A child does not ask to be in this world, especially one that is unwanted. I wanted to play sports, be in musicals but she never showed up. I tried to show her my good grades, she didn't care. I was stuck in a situation I could not get out of. I wanted to be with friends, go out and just have fun, but instead being forced to watch and basically raise your siblings is very hard on a child themselves. My youngest brother called me mom for the longest. I know that is something else she hates me for. I tried to even teach him I was his older sister. I would cry, but he didn't know any better. Having someone who is supposed to guide and love you put their hands on you constantly just for wanting to be pretty, or just go out and talk to the other girls. I was restricted from all communications.
By Khaliyah Bronaugh5 years ago in Families
