humanity
Humanity begins at home.
Waiting to Exhale
It feels like I have been holding my breathe for a very long time. A long deep breathe that causes my heart to race, my palms to sweat and my head to spin. I remember when I took that last great gasp of air, it was when my first son, Bryan, was born. I was terrified of becoming a mother. I had no clue how to be one and the thought of being responsible for anyone other than myself was quite daunting. I was terribly young and niave and he was so tiny, barely six pounds. He reminded me of a little frog. He was due on Valentines Day but waited a little longer and came into this world effortlessly on February 18, 1985. I distinctly remember the very moment when my beautiful, perfect son was placed in my arms and I fell deeply, passionately, madly in love. My concerns melted away along with my heart. He took my breathe away.
By Robin Davis5 years ago in Families
First Time
This is my first entry on vocal. I find it fitting that I am a person who celebrates my first of most things. After reading through just a few of the amazing post here, I feel my voice may seem a bit different from most. The image above is my first time at Botanical Gardens. It’s amazing how many first we can have in a lifetime. I often say that it is my goal to be appreciated more with repetition. Every experience is better than the last. I am so excited to share some of my simple truths. I hope that my post will be received as a day in the life of who I am today. I have always loved words. In fact, I call words my first true love. Truthfully, it was an arranged marriage orchestrated by my father as a form of punishment that proved to be reward. When I was growing up, I survived a lot of trauma. Most people don’t know unless we actually engage in a conversation where my experiences must be disclosed for understanding to be achieved. My mom used to tell me that I was supposed to be dead three times before I was born. The fact that I am alive, meant I had a purpose. I’m going to try and navigate through this as best I can. I’m so excited and eager to tell the right stories and post them in the right places to enable someone, only God knows who, to read and exhale.
By Kendell K. Lee5 years ago in Families
The Month That Changed The World
“Do people really eat bats?” my 8 year old asked me, eyes wide as we all clambered into the car after a day at school. As I tossed the backpacks, kit bags and lunch boxes in the back of the car a discussion broke out between the children. My 11-year-old daughter and two 8-year-old sons seemed to have a plethora of information about this deadly virus that had reportedly originated in China. Half listening, half pondering if I could take another route home to skip the school run traffic, I was admittedly entertained by how they debated the alleged facts they had gathered in the playground. As the volume escalated I decided to diffuse the topic and took it as the perfect opportunity to reinforce my daily begging for them to wash their hands, for which I received 3 almost rehearsed eye rolls and groans. This was at the beginning of February and I must confess current affairs were not at the top of my daily things to keep up with. I was in the process of finalizing a collection for Ramadan and preparing to return to London in a few weeks for surgery. I dismissed the Corona Virus as media frenzy and simply didn’t have the headspace to even attempt to process it. Before I left, family and friends urged me to wear a mask in the airport. I had just read an article, which of course was later found to be false, that masks provide no benefit and I didn’t want to buy into what appeared to me to be simply scaremongering.
By Maha Gorton5 years ago in Families
Diary Of A Junkie!!!
Hello my fellow Mundanes. If your reading this right now I'm guessing that my extremely bold title sparked your curiosity, and convinced you to pursue this extremely subjective personal narrative that I have carefully and cautiously put together for you. So lets talk a little bit about who I am and what this story is all about. Well I was born in an extremely small town,. I would say approximately 2,000 people total in my home town. You know those town where everyone knows everyone else and you cant turn a corner without running into Gabby Gossip. Well aside from that I had a relatively normal child hood. Actually it was a pretty amazing childhood. I grew up with six sisters and a little brother (eight including me). We really had an amazing upbringing. Dad would take us on mini-trips out of town to shop and have fun. It was a truly unbelievable childhood for all eight of us. We had so much fun together, honestly there was never a dull moment. Dad and Mom and Sue, really had their hands full with the eight of us. Hold on a sec., lets see if your brains are working. Did you catch that, there at the beginning of the last sentence, you know the one where I said "Dad and Mom and Sue". Yeah that's right, in this story of mine , and this amazing childhood it wasn't just Dad and Mom that were there, It was full time another woman. My dads other woman and the mother of four of my siblings. YEP !!! YOU HEARD ME RIGHT!!! We grew up with our father having two completely different families. I know. I know what your thinking, but honestly it wasn't like that, well it wasn't like that for us kids anyway. So long story short my dad was having children with both my mother, ( Kate) and this other woman. He had a child with her first, my older sister Jess, with Sue, then I was born from Dad and my mother, then next comes Stacy, Sue's daughter then Sam from my mother, Brandy from her , Kelsey from my mom , Belle from my mom and last but surely not least my baby brother Stan Jr.. So here we are one big happy family. I mean its not like we lived together or anything. But Sue knew my dad was seeing My mother and my mother surely knew about her. It was extremely crazy for the better part of a decade, but I'm guessing that both ladies came around, because before we knew it, my other sisters and my brother were coming over and my mom was babysitting them, and vice versa. She would watch the four of us as well. It was definitely crazy and there was truly never a dull moment, we all had our sibling rivalries, but for the most part we got along. So aside from my parents extremely unique take on relationships, we were happy. I know what your probably thinking, that sounds like complete chaos, right? If this is in fact what you are thinking then you wouldn't exactly be wrong. You wouldn't exactly be right either. This was a crazy way of life, but somehow it worked for us. It worked for us for a while. Then something had to give. My dad ended up proposing to my mother instead of my brother and sisters mother. So that started some kind of feud as you can imagine. All Hell Broke Loose. So My parents were getting married and things between my dad and the other woman he was with slowly but surely started caving. It wasn't long before gantlets were tossed and things were getting worse and worse. No more big happy two families. Everything was turning so fast. Of course you wouldn't want to be the woman that wasn't going to be his wife after standing by this man with two families for 12 years, "am I right"? So things got bad and my brother and my sisters weren't coming around as much. Things were being said that were not true at all and this led to a lot of time in court and a lot of hurt feelings. Long story short dad ended up not being able to see his other four kids the way he used to. Its like they became her personal weapons. Things that she could use to get back at him for not choosing to be with her for the long term. My father is an amazing father, he took care of all of us and worked his ass off to give us the child hood that we deserved. So she knew that tearing the kids away from him would really hit him where it hurts. So she fought him and what she fought him for I really don't know. He never hesitated to take care of us kids in any way shape or form. We really never wanted for anything. But it happened she did all the dirty she could do and nothing but lies are what led to my dads very existence being shattered. His life(his children) were stripped from him like he was some common thieve. It was brutal and it took a toll on Dad. Anyone and everyone could tell that he wasn't the same man. Having his other four children taken from him, and not to mention his only son. It just broke my dad. My father is one of the strongest men I have ever met in my life. But this was his one weakness. His children. So as time went on and the other kids were becoming nothing short of a memory. The light that everyone seen in my Dads eyes slowly began to fade. Feeling a loss like this is something that overtakes you. If you are any kind of human at all and you feel, this feeling is one you do not want to endure. So me and my other three sisters were still living life. As best we could but things started to happen. We started seeing less of Dad . Which was definitely not normal. He was always there for us you know. Then we slowly started seeing Mom less and less. When I'm explaining this to you, what I really mean to say is that they were around but they were shut off from us most of the time. So we would come home from school and then Mom would be in the bedroom waiting on Dad to come home and when he did, we wouldn't see them for the rest of the night. Lucky to see them in the morning anymore on our way to school. Which wasn't like our parents. My Mom would always be up before us making breakfast and home before we got home with like the best dinners in the world ready to eat when we got off that bus. The life a kid dreams of having was gone. We were being neglected slowly but surely. Went from having no men wanting to date us in town because of my Dads reputation of being this badass, to having no curfew no rules and basically no parents. Things that would never be acceptable in my life, to my parents, were starting to be our new way of life. It was unbelievable. In the blink of an eye. Our world was turned upside down. Now we had no idea what was going on. We just knew that something wasn't right. 'Til the one day when we all found out. So my sister and I got home before my two younger sisters because we were in Middle School and High School. So today we get off the bus and we run to the house you know, maybe mom would be out of her room today and wanting to spend time with us. Maybe she would have dinner ready like old times, maybe today was the day that everything would go back to normal. Eager to get to the house and talk to mom about our day at school we ran into the house and yelled for her. There was no answer. So we looked from room to room hoping that we would find her . The very last door I opened was the bathroom and what I had found once that door was opened I couldn't believe.
By Malinda Bobb5 years ago in Families
A Turn Of Events
Life as she knew it was far from horrible, but it certainly was not anything like she hoped or dreamed it would be. To be honest it had life had exceeded anything she could have ever imagined it being. Amanda was a sweet and simple kind of girl a rather homely kind of girl that grew up in a rink-a-dink, one horse town nestled on the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts where she grew up with a doting mother and father, an ornery younger brother and their little Boston Terrier dog Scotty. Amanda had the life that most teenage girls her age always wanted, she had it easy. But if you were to ask Amanda, she has just a normal life like anyone else, she was far from spoiled rotten, but she was compared to most girls in her one-horse town a spoiled girl. See Amanda's mother was a highly regarded and well know criminal justice lawyer and her father was one of their states top baby doctors. People from around the world and from miles around would call on him anytime they would experience any kind of complications with their pregnancy or while in labor, he was the best of the best. This was a family that had it all yet you would not think so if you were an outsider looking in, they lived very modestly, they were not ones to go about throwing their money away on a ton of flashy and materialistic things, instead they like to conserve their money and live like the average middle class family. Sure Amanda had an eye for the expensive flashy things like fancy, shiny, new cars and clothing of all the latest fashions and designers but none of that ever really mattered to Amanda, she was quite content with a worn out faded pair of blue jeans, a faded out loose T-shirt, her favorite pair of Chuck Taylor tennis shoes and her hair loosely pulled back into a quick messy bun or pony tail. Amanda rarely took the time to slap on all the makeup that all the other girls were wearing, she was one to really embrace her natural beauty and boy was Amanda beautiful. All the guys wanted her, and all the girls wanted to be her. She was tall about 5'10", she had an amazing coke bottle shape with a small waistline, long legs, long shiny strawberry blonde hair and the most mesmerizing pair of sky-blue eyes you have ever seen. With beauty like hers most moms might encourage their daughters to become a fashion model or participate in beauty pageants or whatnot and believe you me her parents tried but Amanda never could see the sense in all that high profile, constantly in the lime light, flashing cameras everywhere and fans coming out the woodwork nonsense. No Amanda had dreams of a much simpler career, something a little more subtle and a lot less demanding of her time and attention. Amanda had hopes and dreams of being the next local weather girl on the channel 5 news. For a girl of her magnitude she had the looks and the brains and the dedication to be anything under the sun that she could possibly want to be but ever since Amanda was little and had lived in Kansas for a few years and had experienced the unpredictable weather conditions that Kansas is so well known for having she had become so fascinated with the weather and wanting to know more about what causes certain types of storms and weather patterns and the science behind it all, she loved the sounds of a good ole thunder storm, the rain hitting the roof, the wind whistling through the trees, the thunder rolling like a busy bowling alley on senior citizen night, the flash and loud claps of lightning lighting up a dark cloudy night sky but above all that she adored the smell of rain right before the storm and after the storm had stopped and to say the least she was in awe over the bright brilliant colors of a rainbow right after a storm. Amanda would go out after the rain had stopped, sitting on the porch swing staring at the rainbow and wondering if anyone had ever really found the bottom of a rainbow and even though it was an old wives tale she still liked to think about there being a pot of gold at the bottom of that rainbow and to Amanda nothing would make more sense to do any other profession than to get her foot in the door and start out as the next local weather girl. But as time went on and Amanda got older it seemed as though all her hopes and dreams of what she wanted to be when she grew up had started to change and even though she still loved a good rain shower or the sounds of a good thunderstorm her thoughts began to take her in a direction that she never saw coming her way. She began to take an interest in the mental health and wellbeing of the youth in her community and in the world. See Amanda never had any mental illness issues or problems with depression or high anxiety or anything like that but she still knew a lot about the topic because her ornery little brother Bradley was born with a mild case of autism and was diagnosed at the ripe old age of 3 when her parents started noticing little things about Bradley that made him different than most other boys in his age group, things like it would take Bradley slightly longer to learn certain things that most kids his age would grab right on to, or it was harder for Bradley to socialize with the other kids in his class and he was not showing any interest in certain subjects in school like English class because it was hardly too noticeable at first but whenever Bradley would get nervous, or frightened or confused he would stutter just a bit when he talked. So after some several doctor visits and having tests run on him and cat scans of his brain and having done a few EEG tests to measure his brainwaves and patterns it was determined that the now 5 year old, happy go lucky Bradley has a mild case of autism. It is nothing that with a lot of hard work, patience, determination and cooperation and the help from all the doctors and speech therapists, and a good behavioral specialist Bradley could soon learn the coping skills and routines that would help him to deal with his diagnosis and teach him how to in so many ways be able to live a very normal, healthy and functional, thriving life despite his condition. After seeing the changes in Bradley and now his diagnosis and seeing how much more special time and attention it was going to take to help Bradley and give him the best life possible and all the extra patience and understanding it was going to take to help Bradley flourish Amanda began looking into and researching the topic of mental health and illness and autism, and it suddenly came to her attention that to care for and love and raise children with certain autistic characteristics and special needs it would take a special type of person to be able to live with and love and care for and raise a child with such issues, she realized it would take a person with a huge heart and lots of love to give to tend to an autistic child and she knew with all the love and concern and compassion that Amanda had for another human being she knew right then and there that being a mental health and illness specialist of some sort was her true calling in life. So, without much more of another thought she knew the path she was going to take in life. And Amanda did just that. She dove right in, she went for the gusto and took the bull by the horns and she focused all her time and energy into being one of the most important people in an autistic person's life and she was nothing short of amazing. She took all the classes and read all the books and studied for and took all the tests and even though at times it was a hard and daunting task Amanda made it through it all and passed with flying colors and at the top of her class and with honors. And she quickly became the top world-renowned specialists for her tri-state area. And it was one weekend that Amanda had decided to take a little break and take a weekend off from the job she totally adores and she decided to make the trip back to her quaint little one horse town hometown and visit her beloved mother and father and the brother she feels she owes all her skills and success to for the weekend. It was not until Amanda's first night back home and the whole family was back together again and they were all gathered around the family dinner table holding hands and their heads bowed and about to say grace, that it became very clear to Amanda that despite all she had done and learned and been through in her lifetime that this has got to be the best and her all-time favorite turn of events in her life and for that she has truly been blessed and given the ultimate feeling of love peace and happiness and for which she is ultimately grateful.
By Amy McGuffey5 years ago in Families
Mother of 5!
Hello everyone! My name is Sophia and I am a mother of 5 during this crazy pandemic. I am one of those Americans that when the pandemic was declared I made the move to get me and my family out of the city of Albuquerque and into the safe zone of a small town. I have 4 acres I have been investing in for a few years but it is completely bare and definitely needs work.
By Our Happy Ark5 years ago in Families
Nelly
Joe pulled back the heavy and surprisingly dusty curtains of the hospital room window. The view from the Regina General Hospital was decent.He could see dark clouds on the horizon hovering near the outskirts of the city. Snow? he wondered, it was November after all. Joe couldn’t be bothered by the thought of snow, his worries were miles away from crops, and winter looming on the horizon. His heart was in that hospital room where his wife, Nelly lay quietly in the room behind him. she had been in a coma for a day and a half, and he didn’t know when she would wake up, If ever.
By Erika Johnson 5 years ago in Families
Home
Lily looks out into the ocean the mists sprays her skin bringing a much need cool to her sweaty brow. She couldn’t help but think about her family back home. Did her uncle lay her mother to rest in her favorite dress? Did her brother find peace after the fateful night that caused her to flee to coast?
By Nathan Cleve Durham5 years ago in Families
Simon
Spending a week in Chicago wasn’t exactly on my summer list of to-dos’. When my mother called me and asked me to come home, without reason, I initially said I couldn’t make it. But when she called every day after that, for four days in a row, asking the same question, I finally agreed. Partially to make her stop calling but mostly because I was curious as to what she wanted. We didn’t have the best relationship when I was younger. She was so hell bent on vodka and feeling sorry for herself that she missed dance recitals, spelling bees and even graduations. I got used to her not showing up. I got used to her choosing herself over me and eventually, I grew up to be just like her. Selfish.
By Talon Smith5 years ago in Families
The Bottle & The Nutcracker
Every year when the cold starts to crawl across the nation, and the warmth runs away out of its grasp, the same memory always pops up. I'm tempted to do the same thing each time but I always do the same thing every year and hold off until December 1st. I have always felt that if I strayed outside of that particular date that it would be a betrayal to some degree. I know its irrational but sometimes it really feels that severe.
By Amanda Wilson5 years ago in Families
