parents
The boundless love a parent has for their child is matched only by their capacity to embarrass them.
On the Other Side of Fear. Top Story - June 2022.
I’ve always been a chicken, but I rarely give in to my fear. I guess I get that from my father. As I stood in line for the newest roller coaster at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg last week, my idea for this challenge piece came to mind.
By Jennifer Christiansen4 years ago in Families
"Everything Was Like A Dream"
-All encounters in the world are reunion after a long separation.- Part One: The Story of the Lotus Angel "No Wine" I'm a little boy. I have a little elder sister, who is also my closest friend. We used to live in the Lotus Heaven, where there was a boundless lotus sea. Whenever the breeze was blowing, the lotus petals were dancing gently, flashing moving lights. There were many, many little boys and girls like us. Only the purest and kindest children can live in our lotus heaven. We were called "Lotus Angels". During the day, we grew lotus in the lotus sea, picked lotus seeds, or learned the wisdom of the Divine. When night fell, we slept in the lotus flower that belonged to each of us.
By Dawnxisoul393art4 years ago in Families
Mother's Pickles
Mother is a master pickle maker, she will pickle several jars of pickles every year. When I was young, the family's living conditions were poor and there was nothing to eat. However, with these pickled vegetables, the meal suddenly became a delicacy, life also became a taste, there is interest. At that time, the food was simple, but the taste was rich; at that time, the life was poor, but the days were prosperous by us.
By BlossomParker4 years ago in Families
Becoming Fathers
TW: One quick note: abuse of any kind should not be excused. If you’re healing from something awful your dad or any dad did to you, I’m so sorry, and I truly hope you find healing. I will not make excuses for an abuser of any kind. If you have a good relationship with your father, I’m happy for you, but please remember not everyone does. This piece is meant to explore fatherhood and how it has impacted our world, in an anecdotal and introspective way. I hope it can amuse you, and help you find some peace for those of us who are still looking.
By alan pierce4 years ago in Families
Butterfly Kisses
My father didn't cry at my wedding, and I was glad. I wouldn't have known what to do or how to react if he did. In fact, I went to great lengths to ensure that he wouldn't, because if he, someone I never saw cry, started crying, then I would start crying. That included abolishing the traditional father-daughter dance (though it wasn't the only one my husband and I abolished), and thus saving myself from the heart-tugging, tear-jerking beauty of the song Butterfly Kisses. I'd already succumbed to that song once, in one of my classes at university, and I didn't want to ever do so publicly again.
By Marie Sinadjan4 years ago in Families
The Loss of a Father
I wish this could be a story about how great of a relationship I had with my father. I wish I could tell you about how he loved my mother so deeply and cherished every moment with us. I wish I could say he came to every dance recital and encouraged me to be myself.
By Jennifer Chapman4 years ago in Families
Motherhood
Hi, this was me before becoming a momma. I know, who is she? She didn’t have a real worry in the world. This was me before even thinking of doing hours and hours of research on ovulation. This was me before my OCD kicked into overdrive. This was me before the endless tears after months of negatives appeared in front of me. This was before I even knew what a pandemic was. Shortly after the pandemic started is when I decided to start trying for a baby, because I also, like many other women, decided to have a baby while the world was slowly falling a part. I figured that I could bring a bit of joy into this chaotic world. Whenever I went on social media, all I could see were pregnant women. Beautiful and glamorous pregnant women. They would prepare their nurseries, they would prepare their postpartum toiletries, they would buy all these beautiful clothes for their very small human that they spent nine months making. It seemed like there were no negatives to being pregnant. It almost seemed perfect. It is an honour to be pregnant and to become a mom I often thought. I would see videos of their partners rubbing their beautiful pregnant bellies. I would see their partners holding them through every difficult moment. I wanted that too. I wanted it more than anything I have ever wanted in my life. So it became my new obsession.
By Roxanne Bédard4 years ago in Families
The Reader
VOCAL: Dads Are No Joke “That shark is the size of our driveway”. The very words that my Dad whispered to me in a packed movie threatre in July of 1975. I was only five but he took me to see JAWS with him. I was mesmerized by the whole thing. Later in the movie, he whispered, “That shark is made of rubber”, because he didn’t want me to be scared. And that’s the kind of Dad he was.
By Lynn Henschel4 years ago in Families
Summer Magic
My younger siblings probably assumed we were camping just for fun. What family wouldn’t want to get away from the sweltering city to the whispering, pine-scented woods? But I was the oldest, nearly out of high school, and I knew that we had packed up everything and headed out to live in tents in the national park for the summer because we couldn’t afford rent.
By Heidi Unruh4 years ago in Families
