immediate family

Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family.

Holiday Hilarity. Runner-Up in Holiday Hijinks Challenge.
Part l Holidays always brought their unique mishaps to our family. We rarely made it through a year without something going awry. Every year we hoped. We hoped the furnace didn’t go on the blink. We hoped the oven didn’t go on the fritz. We hoped no one would get mad and go home during the party. We hoped our Aunt wouldn’t bring her God awful casserole concoction that she always brought. We hoped.
By Rulam Day3 years ago in Families
A Christmas I Don’t Remember Forgetting
There was poop and pee everywhere. On the floor, on the couch. Even a day later, and after a good cleanup, I was still finding poop in nooks and crannies. It even haunted me in my dreams. This is not a good way to start a story, I know, but given the theme of this writing challenge, I thought it best to give a preview where this is going. The events of this disastrous holiday gathering began so innocently, and as a result, I never could have foreseen such a revolting aftermath.
By Ghostface Writer3 years ago in Families
Yellow Shirt Girl
In my family, Thanksgiving is always quite the ordeal. There are so many people in my family that it’s always a really large gathering, but it’s usually the same people who attend it every year. Cousins, siblings, grandparents, and even some of our more distant relatives all join together at my great aunt’s large home, where we host a potluck brunch and everyone brings their favorite dishes. We gather around to watch movies and eat as many helpings of food as we can fit in our stomachs. However, a few years ago, we had an unexpected guest.
By Brenna Williams3 years ago in Families
Good Intentions. Runner-Up in Holiday Hijinks Challenge.
Christmas Day, 2000. Despite a thirteen hour drive north from Atlanta a few days before, I found myself chauffeuring my family to and from church.
By marty roppelt3 years ago in Families
The Unseen Gift
Fried chicken, turkey, ham cutlets, three types of yams, five bowls of green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, and fifteen various casseroles, weighed down the table in my Uncle Doris's and Aunt Abbey's farmhouse dining room.
By J. S. Wade3 years ago in Families
Single Kenyan Moms Blamed For Children's Behavior: Not Poverty, Polygamy, Gender-Based Violence or Untrained Teachers
During Covid-19 lockdown in Kenya the incidents of gender-based violence grew out of control. Hundreds of Kenyans ended up on the streets, many with their children to escape violence in their homes. So much so that BBC filmed the famed documentary in Kenya about the high rising incidents of gender violence.
By IwriteMywrongs3 years ago in Families
Being Far Away For Christmas
Both sisters were born in Hungary to the same mother. They had different fathers. This story goes back many years. If I recall correctly, it was close to 25 years ago. Give or take a few years. This story covers two continents, two countries that are very far away from each other. The Christmas story also involves two sisters. One of the sisters is me. It was Christmas time. One of the sisters had moved to another country with her husband and young son. She was older by 18 years. I am the older sister. It was time to celebrate Christmas in Hungary. It was time to Celebrate Christmas in the United States as well. Christmas celebrations always included the whole family coming together and visiting each other on Christmas day. The two sisters lived together before the move happened.
By Gabriella Korosi3 years ago in Families
The sweater
It all started with a sweater. It was a present from my aunt Ellen to my aunt Janet, the oldest to the youngest of my three aunts. It was beautiful. Soft, ivory cashmere that felt like a newborn puppy's fur. We had all exchanged gifts at the end of our usual huge Christmas feast, and this particular Christmas stuck out to me the most, not just because of the sweater, but it was also the last Christmas we had with my grandparents. Ed and Mildred, or Millie as grandpa liked to call her. I remember my mom saying "when you came along, pops turned into a different person." I asked what she meant by that and she said, "Pops would have never allowed any of us to sit on his lap and read to us or let us play with the organ. That was his most prized possession."
By Sherry Cortes3 years ago in Families
Street Firecrackers Gone Wrong
I’ve always liked to go to Mexico for New Years, as a kid. It was a different feeling over there than when we stayed in Houston. My mom is from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and every holiday season when we were kids, we went there for both Christmas and New Year.
By Elsa3 years ago in Families
The NYE When My Dog Ran Away
In 2007 on New Year's Eve, my dog ran away. I was coming home from an internship at Disney World. I was on a cross-country road trip with a friend to make my way back to Northwest Arkansas. My friend was another college intern. She lived in Kansas City. My parents planned to meet her family/caravan in Missouri, and they would take me the rest of the way to Mountain Home.
By Andrea Lawrence3 years ago in Families
The Thanksgiving that Never Happened
When my mother died in 2021, I thought I would be able to have a decent relationship with my father. I believed that we could put aside all of our differences and be a family even though we lacked the central cohesive part of everything that made us whole: my mother.
By Diane Michelle Campbell3 years ago in Families
Hey!! It's Casual!!
Mom announced that it would be a casually intimate New Years Eve party that she and my Dad were throwing this year. Casual meaning if things went sideways; Hey! It's casual!
By Kate Rogers3 years ago in Families