Top Stories
Stories in Families that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
Stories My Grandfather Told Me
My grandfather passed away in September of 2020. His friends called him “Jimmy” while others liked “James.” But I always called him Papa. Before his passing, my sister’s and I rotated in shifts during the height of the pandemic to make sure he was not escaping his home to hangout with his friends. He often enjoyed walking around his neighborhood to socialize. My grandfather encompassed the phrase “social butterfly.” But he had been diagnosed with dementia and needed someone to remind him that he could not leave his house, that he needed to take his medication, and that he needed to exercise. But while I was making sure he took his daily dose of medication, he liked to tell me stories of his life. And just like any nugget of wisdom you could receive from your therapist, in books, in movies, from friends and more, the stories my grandfather told me have improved my life tenfold.
By Bella Leon5 years ago in Families
How One Busy Mom Makes Time for Family Dinner. Created with: Plant Camp.
As a mom of four girls that range in age from seven years old to four weeks old I can certainly tell you how fast the time goes. I often wonder where the time has gone and how I could possibly be the mother of a seven year old already! I’m constantly questioning the decisions I am making as a parent - did I spend enough time with each of them today, did I use the right words to make them feel good, did I give their bodies the right amount of nutrients for energy and growth and the list goes on and on. Parenthood is a crazy ride and until about one year ago I was letting it fly by without realizing it.
By Margaret McAfee5 years ago in Families
My Father's House
I am standing in the house my father built. The rooms are cold, as they always were. The myth of California is that it’s always warm. Instead, the damp gets inside of you until your skin crawls. The heat was never turned on in my father’s house.
By Louis Chalif5 years ago in Families
Dear Fathers
Dear fathers in your many forms, I am blessed to have one of you close, adopt others, marvel and smile at many, desire to see freedom and justice for others. I learn from you, the depths of your roots and the worlds in your eyes. I’ve grown up amidst tangible yous and messages about you, depictions that usually seemed to miss the mark--overlooked huge parts of your heart. As a kid I often felt pained, sad watching movies with black men, like my dad or about black stories because they seemed incessantly heavy. I was confused, because my black family and community had their strife, but there was so much fun and vibrant life.
By Carly F. J.5 years ago in Families
The Bucket List
Wool socks… a couple of plaid flannel shirts… jeans… a single burner camp stove… night goggles… hiking boots… legal documents, lots of legal documents. Newspaper articles telling of the undercover sting operation that laundered money for people who brought American dollars back in exchange for prime Canadian hydroponic weed… an old passport… a driver’s license in someone else’s name that I hope he didn’t kill anyone for.
By Coranne Creswell5 years ago in Families
Mermaid
My mother was a drunk and a mermaid. Or a mermaid and a drunk. That’s the problem with words: whatever you say first sounds like it causes the second. But sometimes people are just two things at once. And more likely three. See, my mother wasn’t a mermaid because she was a drunk. And she wasn’t a drunk because she was a mermaid. She was just both, as long as I can remember. Oh, and a dreamer. A drunk, dreaming mermaid that drank and dreamed.
By P. D. Murray5 years ago in Families
Remembering Old World California
Most people living in the New World try their best to forget the world that existed before the Catastrophe, especially the wealthy, who’d only made efforts to spare themselves, while disregarding the rest of the population. Some people, however, still do all they can to remember.
By Taylor Moreau5 years ago in Families
