extended family

All about how to stay connected, strengthen ties and talk politics with your big, happy extended family.

To the Grandmother I Never Knew...
You didn't know me, and I didn't know you. We were merely strangers that shared DNA. The saying blood runs deep is both true and yet, a lie. You see, I will never live without you, even though I did live without you. I will never forget you, though from day to day, you were like a whisper rather than an actual presence in my life.
By Jessie Melanson8 years ago in Families
An Open Letter to a Shitty Ex Step-Dad
You came up in conversation the other day, like you usually do when I see old friends. "How’s name removed for privacy doing?"
By Maranda Carene8 years ago in Families
Tale of a Mother-In-Law
The first time I met my future mother-in-law, I was not yet married to her son, Bob, and I knew if she had anything to do with it, I never would be married to Bob.
By Denise Willis8 years ago in Families
The Original Bahama Mama!!
I have a huge confession to make: I was NOT an easy child to deal with when I was much younger. I was a walking nightmare. There. I finally got that out of the way. Whew!!!
By Maurice Bernier8 years ago in Families
A Light In the Dark
Dear Naomi, When you were born, I felt the entire universe change and things started to align, I felt myself change. I was no longer just a normal person living her everyday life, just another number on a paper or screen. Suddenly, I was Aunt Britt, the person who would spoil you rotten and give you everything your parents said you couldn't have. I was the person you would go to when you couldn't tell anyone else your secrets without judgement, or the person you turned to when you had no one else. I was going to be the person that made you laugh until you cried, I would wipe away any tears you shed, happy or unhappy. I would make you smile and feel safe and I would make you feel important. I would do all of that and then some, because at that time in my life, no one was doing any of that for me.
By Brittney Heath8 years ago in Families
The Most Beautiful Baby in the World!
There a few, but most important events in my life that gave me great joy, a joy that made me feel like I was the king of the universe. These were times that, if I did something else at that point, I would have succeeded. If I had played the Powerball lottery or something else instead of these events, it would have resulted in a spectacular result. There was the first day of my life, finishing (successfully) grade school, high school and the getting FOUR degrees/diplomas from a major university. Then, there was getting my first teaching job and, eventually, becoming an assistant principal. I remember the music and athletic goals that I also set and achieved for myself as well.
By Maurice Bernier8 years ago in Families
Relocating to a Remote Community
I'm from a huge town called Hamilton. Squished into southern Ontario with a population of at least 500,000. Not once did I think moving up north would change my life.
By Alison G8 years ago in Families
Family
Family. You think that it is all happy memories and great moments when you think of that word. But for a majority of people it is quite the opposite. Whether it's to a small extent or a huge one.
By Kelsie Cohu8 years ago in Families
Family of Blankets
I was on Facebook a year ago and I came across this post from a lady that was starting a GoFundMe page and the post was saying that this family had lost their home from a fire. Well I clicked on the lady's profile and she had a video of her going through her home explaining each room. I wasn't into the video but for 10 seconds and I was in tears. What tugged at my heart was this family picture at the end of the hall. It was kind of scary. It was like the fire didn't touch that part of the house. The family was starting completely over from the ground up. I heard that they were living in a motel, and then they stayed with friends.
By Crystal Greer8 years ago in Families
Super Woman
"Lauren, I need your help,” she weakly said, as she passed me a box of a couple dozen bottles of pills. I was all of six years old and my Nana passed me the large slotted, weekly pill organizer.
By Lauren P.9 years ago in Families
My D*d Was a Bastard
1920s Kesh must have been a great place to be a bastard. Despite its railway station, it was a small rural community that more probably resembled the 19th (or even 18th) century than it did the 20th. Village gossip (everyone knew everyone else’s business) would be exchanged at the market as well as the two watering holes (The Mayfly Inn & the village pump), and boy, there must have been some proper tittle-tattle when it was discovered that my grandmother, Margaret, had become pregnant by a local copper.
By Kevin McClintock9 years ago in Families
Grief: Not Something You Just Get Over
Our friends, family, colleagues, and perhaps even random strangers tell us that time heals all wounds, and that you need to suck it up and get over it. But grief, as I have come to know for a fact, is a process. You don't just get over it.
By Jessie B9 years ago in Families