Top Stories

Stories in Families that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.

Pirates Ahead
My grandfather was right about many things. He called the World Series winners many years in a row, how we’d put a man on the moon, Nixon – he knew things, or he was an excellent guesser. His 86 years of experience included both good things and bad, the good things being what he shared with his grandkids. Besides his love of chess, he loved making us laugh. He would take us into his lap and point to his mustache. We’d go to touch it, and he’d pretend to bite our fingers. My father did that, too, come to think of it. We’d break out into a fit of giggles.
By Barb Dukeman5 years ago in Families
You Don't Talk to Your Parents, and That's OK
In today's society, it is not uncommon for parents and their children to have estrangements with one another. Especially when our family morals have changed over time, and our awareness of our mental health has gained precedence in our day to day lives.
By Stephanie DePalmer5 years ago in Families
The Life I Choose
The dawning light wakes me as it eases through the bedroom window of the cabin. I slowly roll myself from the bed, pulling the blankets back up to snuggle the resting form of my husband.
By KJ Aartila5 years ago in Families
The Anniversary Waltz
The morning haze of June 10, 1994, was particularly tiring for Shelley. Two months of pregnancy have started taking its toll, from the dreaded morning sickness to the backache that no Advil could kill. Bumming around the house, a restless Shelley figured today was just going to be another typical hot summer day. Mark, who started work earlier in the day, came home early, catching her off guard.
By Barb Dukeman5 years ago in Families
My Naughty Little Sister
Intro When I was around fourteen years old, I walked into my local bookshop, perusing the shelves, most likely looking for the next Harry Potter instalment, when I saw it. I audibly gasped. A beautiful hardback, duck egg blue cover with the looping calligraphy of "50th Anniversary Celebration" written in gold. There was the unmistakable, pencil-sketched illustration of a sour-faced tiny girl with red blotchy cheeks, a deep frown, and a pet lip—My Naughty Little Sister.
By Sh*t Happens - Lost Girl Travel5 years ago in Families
Delusion
Mom wasn't always in the mood for a bedtime story. But maybe if I won this youth violin competition, or did particularly well at the piano recital, I'd get one. My chances went up if other parents sincerely praised me in front of Mom. They weren't really stories so much as cultural proverbs. As a child I used to have whole stacks of these Chinese proverb story cards. They had a drawing on one side and the story written out in Chinese on the back.
By Annie Woo5 years ago in Families
Chosen Princess. Second Place in Bedtime Stories Challenge.
Little Golden Books, I had them all. I'm not exaggerating, I had ALL OF THEM, plus countless other books, and every night from the time I was 3, I read a bedtime story to either my mother or my father on an alternating basis. We eventually ran out of books and someone, I think it was my father, came up with something new. Always one to encourage my imagination, he decided instead of reading stories in the evening, we'd all take turns making up stories of our own.
By Misty Rae5 years ago in Families
Doing it All: Mother, Wife, Writer, Student et al…
Life Doesn't End at Motherhood! If you feel like you are overwhelmed, don't worry; you are not alone! I remember having two under twos at once! I think I spent 75 per cent of my time changing nappies (Diapers) or clothes. Let's not forget the constant tidying, the walks, food prep and especially snuggle time!
By J.B. Miller5 years ago in Families
Words Are The Most Priceless Gift We Can Give
Creative Paralysis The last time I saw my dad alive, I was writing my first-ever Vocal story for the Behind the Beat challenge. I’ve replayed the night over and over thousands of times in my head. If I knew it was the last time I would ever see him, I would have hugged him and held on. I would have told him how grateful I was for the love he gave me in a million different ways …
By Lori Melton5 years ago in Families
Repurposed with Love
Checking the mail It wasn’t that long ago that I fell in love with a widowed gentleman. He would check his mail “to see if anybody loved” him, and would return smiling, even if it was only a bill waiting in the box. This gripped me, for I had long loved greeting cards, and bought them randomly over a period of years if they were pretty or amusing or unique. I bought the ones that made me feel something, and that I could imagine others would like. My collection was a reflection of part of me. I bought the cards, yet there had been no reason, no purpose or person in mind other than to recapture the feeling it had given to me the first time I saw it or read it.
By LP Steinbeck5 years ago in Families
A Quilt of Memories
“Mom? Dad?” Sam and Kate’s faces look serious as my husband, Ken, and I peer at them over Zoom. “You know how much we love you, but we just don’t think it’s safe to travel. We think you should cancel your trip.”
By Betsy Rapoport5 years ago in Families
Lurlyne and the Amazing Technicolor Quilt Coat
My jaw hit the floor the first time I saw a quilt coat. A friend, and fellow crafter, sent me a photo of a bright and beautiful patchwork quilt made into a knee length coat. I was enraputred. How cool! How retro! How could I have lived this long without my own?!
By Pamela Bullock 5 years ago in Families