immediate family
Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family.
A Master of Her Own Words
Sarah Cooper was born with a disability that she hated since she was able to crawl, walk, hear and talk. Since kindergarten she was most of the times left or rejected from the circle of students in her class. Her only proud and cherished moment was when she was recognized for her best and excellent end of year results where the whole class was ordered to clap for her. She could not have a sincere and single friend for her emotional, psychological and mental support. But all changed from the day she met John Carnegie, her senior and mentor in public speaking. She was fighting hard against her long-lasting disability as she was desperately forlorn about it, the speech-language impairments.
By Kawthur Khan Juhoor6 years ago in Families
Green Garden Friend
This fine gentleman is a green anole, a common visitor to gardens here in New Orleans. They are known for eating bugs and I have even seen one eating a cockroach. They have faced some competition from larger, more invasive brown anoles in recent years. My little, green friend is a good indication of how my avid gardener of a mother creates a space for wildlife in her magical “fairy portals.”
By Caitlin Cooper6 years ago in Families
Don’t Take Nothing For granted
Tomorrow July 19th will mark 34 years of me existing here on earth. Some may have different perspectives about it. For older people to them 34 years old you’re still young and new to certain things in life. To my generation it’s an accomplishment to even make to even make it past the age of 18 years old. I have seen a lot and experienced a lot in my 34 years of life. One thing I am certain of if nothing else is life waits on no one. Enjoy every moment from the biggest accomplishments to the smallest stolen moments with your loved ones. Most would be planning a party, but not me at least not this year. This year I just want to relax and enjoy my day with my Mother who Blessed me with life and my kids and Day 1’s. Before the pandemic we had a big road trip planned 30 of us cousins mixed 3 generations to visit other relatives and just enjoy the experience riding state to state. There’s a reason for everything we are certainly postponing it not canceling. For me it would’ve been my first vacation ever with my kids. In my 17 years of being in the working world I have never taken off work let alone taken a vacation with my 3 kids. Sad I know but it’s a reality for a lot of people. I’ve never made enough money from working to be able to miss work, because if I didn’t work I didn’t get paid. Not every job offers paid time off. I seen this quote on social media “ They want women to work like they don’t have kids and raise kids like they don’t have to work.” If you’ve been able to do it God Bless you and don’t ever take it for granted because not everybody can do it, but I’m not setting limits like it’s impossible. It’s all about the given opportunities and resources. For me as a single parent of 3 kids ages 13,7 and 4 years old. The hours you work are critical either you have to leave for work and not be able to take them to school or take them to school and not be able to pick them up. Not all schools offer decent after school care or they want to Charde an arm and a leg for it. Some schools offer scholarships and some don’t. Then you have the jobs that has mandatory OT or you have to work weekends and holidays. As you can see the struggle is real as a single parent because you have so many things you have to consider. You’re blessed if you have help. For the ones that don’t have a support system I really admire your strength to persevere. Currently since the pandemic I’ve been off from work, because I am a shuttle driver in San Francisco and the city and most corporate business are closed or working from home. In these 5 months I’ve been home I’ve helped my kids get through there last couple of months of school via social distance learning. It surely was not easy getting them to adapt to the change. My son debated with me everyday on why he couldn’t play Fortnite on his ps4,because he figured he was on early vacation since he wasn’t at school physically. My daughter struggled a bit to finish she’s certainly and in the classroom learner. Not being able to have the on- demand resources and student to teacher dialogue when having trouble was a problem for her. My baby had just started Pre-school so she went from the whole experience of making new friends and leaving the nest for a couple hours to having zoom meetings to still have that social connection. Fortunately she’s back in school with a smaller class down from 24 students to have but only 8 actually attend. Anyways I said all of that to say this don’t take nothing for granted. Don’t take life for granted, dont take your kids/ family/ friends, don’t take people for granted, don’t take time with your family for granted, don’t take your job for granted, don’t take opportunities for granted, nothing at all no matter how big or small you may think it is. If this pandemic hasn’t done anything else, I can say for sure it made me appreciate people and other things that much more. You never realize how much something means until it’s gone. You never really realized how much going somewhere or having this or having that or being able to do this or that meant until you are restricted to not being able to have or do something. Enjoy the small things in life for once.
By Poetry Lover6 years ago in Families
The great outdoors
This day was incredible just before COVID 19 came along to slow us all down an tuck ourselves away in our safe nest, we took a drive to Bowral stopped for lunch at a local cafe and then took a walk along a walking track along the river, the sun was warm and amazing it was quiet and so peaceful, until on the Walking track we came across a massive brown snake that put us all in a panic.
By Kristie Phelps6 years ago in Families
Life and other things
So. I am new to this. My name is Cyndi. I am a single mom of three young men, two parakeets, a puppy named Honey, and my mom. I am...well I was...a substitute aide for the special needs kids here at the schools. I was unjustly accused of something I didn't do and instead of letting me defend myself I was fired and my career ruined. I loved that job. Loved my kids. Anyway, I am now a sit at homer because I can't go anywhere because I am high risk for the virus. Yay.
By cynthia givens6 years ago in Families
Decide
Frowning at herself in the mirror, Anto raked her long, slender fingers through her blonde hair, feeling the unsatisfying brittle texture of each lock. She’d tried so many natural remedies and hair masks to fix the damage that was done to her hair but nothing ever worked. She scoured the internet and flipped through countless magazines only to feel helpless in the end. She looked at her reflection with dissatisfaction, bringing her fingers up to her face to gently caress her skin. She wanted so badly to look like the other girls her age, who had perfect button noses, silky hair, and glowing skin. Of course, these looks can be easily achieved through makeup and photoshop, but there was not enough makeup in the world to fix her blemishes and no amount of photoshopping could ever fix her insecurities. She sighed, beginning to braid her damp hair into two pigtails, getting ready to air-dry them. She had learned from magazines and online sources that airdrying was much healthier for your hair and hopefully, her naturally straight but frizzy hair could become curly and voluminous, by the time she wakes up in the morning and unbraids her hair. Oh but this wasn’t the first time she’s done this. So, she knew what to expect. Curly...yes. Voluminous...well, big? But perfect? Most definitely not.
By Salem Rosé6 years ago in Families
Life is a Beach!
Life's a beach! My mother was walking up the stairs of my Great Grandma Puckett Huntington's house in Galveston Island, Texas and went into labor with me. I was born at 1:30 p.m. at John Sealy Hospital on thanksgiving day November 25, 1976. My grandma worked at Bank of Galveston and my dad would carry me in my baby carrier showing me off to everyone in the bank saying “See my daughter!”. He was so proud of me and so was my mom and they nicknamed me “Love”. My mother was born in Port Isabel, Texas on August 1, 1952. Port Isabel is a small island in south Texas near South Padre Island, Texas. My mom has five sisters Margie, Irma, Minerva, Chave and Dolores and one brother Norberto Jr. My grandparents Isabel and Norberto Perez were active in their community. They were restaurant owners and the President and Vice President of the V.F.W. because my grandpa was in the navy. My grandmother was also the President of the Auxiliary and they would raise money for the V.F.W. by having dances and selling plates of BBQ. My grandmother said that they raised so much money that they could buy a new facility for the V.F.W. in Port Isabel.
By Irene Rose Johnson6 years ago in Families
Lifestyle
I’ve always wanted to start a blog of some sort. You can gather my surprise when I saw this platform to start writing. I am currently in Nova Scotia and my husband in is Alberta. Yes as most families my husband is away from his family for work and to earn a half decent income to also provide for us. This will be my first of many stories that I’ve lived and learned from.
By Jessica LeBlanc6 years ago in Families
Suitcase Of Dreams
We had a picture-perfect start to 1999. It was the year I would turn 18, a major milestone. This was the age when I thought I would be free from parental control. I should have known better, because Mom was having none of it. Once you lived under her roof, you will always be a child to her no matter your age. She consistently repeat, “Two woman cah live een a one house.” These were the bounda-ries she created. Everyone knew their role and how to play them.
By Hazell McKenzie6 years ago in Families
Mummy Diaries
I cried my eyes out at the thought of losing J, my partner. God that sounds like I’m in a same-sex relationship but honestly boyfriend at the age of 34 sounds awful. It is the first time in months my children have been tender and caring towards me that I can remember. I mean we cuddle and kiss before bed and before school but these are obligatory hugs and expected cwtches (look it up its Welsh).
By Diane Campbell6 years ago in Families
