humanity
Humanity begins at home.
Perspective
What is the saying "when one door closes another one opens"? Or when something bad happens to you people say "everything happens for a reason"? These are things we hear from other people when they feel like we could use a pick me up right? Right. It is about perspective. It is about changing ones perspective.
By Ashley Mattei5 years ago in Families
Thankful for Life
This year has definitely been the hardest year to date. My heart has been heavy for so many and watching news headlines was hard. I learned to turn off our tv and tune into time with family right here within our walls. Not only has the virus had a tremendous impact on our nation but also our daily life and our finances. Also, this year marked the one-year anniversary of my falling off our roof. My emotions have pretty well comparable to that of a busted can of biscuits. Truth.
By Brittany Pennel5 years ago in Families
Life
This thing called life is really starting to get out of hand. I didn't expect shit to get real like this. At the age of 22, I found myself being a pregnant college drop out. Nowhere near close to my goals. Forcing myself to move back home from Atlanta with no degree and a baby on the way and in a relationship with someone that 10 years older than me. Talking bout being unprepared for something I felt way behind the curve of everything. When I moved back home I was 3 months pregnant jobless and moneyless. I left the father back in Atlanta who was to arrive shortly before the baby was to be born. I was sleeping in the room with my grandmother. I started looking for jobs but who wants to hire a pregnant woman. I finally got a job as a homecare worker taking care of the disabled which was cool except for the fact that I didn't have a car. So now I had to catch the bus and walk to places that I needed to go to. Not only that but I also now had to go to doctor's appointments by myself. I was at an all-time low. Let me fast forward this story. Two months later the father of my child moved to my hometown so we can be a "family". Now it's me and him living in my grandmother's second bedroom of her two-bedroom townhome with my cousins living with her as well. It's me and him and a house full of people. Two months after that we give birth to a beautiful baby girl two weeks EARLY. (I still blame him for kick-starting my labor because wasn't due for another two weeks.) This was unbelievable because I thought I was going to be pregnant forever. (that and because my family scared me from wanting to give birth. They always had some slick shit to say. "oh, that baby is going to rip you apart," "OH, they gone have to cut that baby out" like way to give my labor anxiety.) Now it's me, him and our baby cramped into this small ass room. Fast forward a month later it's my birthday and I'm depressed. I have no job, no car no place of my own but I have a baby. This shit was stressing me out. Not only that my boobs were constantly hurting which made me feel like my chest was to explode and milk was going to be everywhere. I was the biggest I have ever been in my life. I went from a size 2 to a 10 in the blink of an eye. I couldn't put on anything sexy to save my life. (shit, I still can't. "this pregnancy shit ruined my body forever") Now I and my grandmother has a fight and I leave in the middle of the night with my newborn baby and her father with nowhere to go really. (I know people think why don't you go to your parents for help. Welp, my dad died when I was 9. Sad I know right? and my mom well we can't get along for anything and she believes I was supposed to wait and have kids in my old age, as well as her and the father of my baby, don't get along.) Thank God for my cousin's having their own apartment. We spent a month there sleeping on the floor. Then I finally swallowed my pride and went back to my grandmother's. After returning to my grandmothers, both of us found jobs. And that's when the grind became real. My grandmother tried to charge us $1200 to stay in her spare bedroom that she wanted to go through whenever she felt like it. So we had to come up with a plan. Why pay $1200 to stay in a spare bedroom when you can pay rent somewhere and have your own. On the 1st of the next month we had found a place and were preparing to move. This was only the beginning of this journey of life for me.
By Shakyla A Mosley5 years ago in Families
TOBACCO FARMING
I got introduced to tobacco as a baby. My Mother took me in basket to the tobacco barn while she looped tobacco on a stick. As my Father was a farmer, everyone in my family was expected to help. It was early in the morning and very late in the evening when the chores got done. Not only did my family grow tobacco but there was corn, cotton, soybeans, wheat, peanuts and sweet potatoes, not counting the huge vegetable garden my family planted every year.
By Barbara Wiler5 years ago in Families
Art History
Was the cat limping? Since Circe was a rotund Maine Coon who waddled all the time anyway, Stelle was unsure. It seemed to her that the tubby feline was listing to one side and putting less weight on her right front paw as she made her way into the kitchen.
By Valerie Kittell5 years ago in Families
What My Mum Taught Me About Mental Strength
From about the age of 3-4, I grew up without much of a father figure. What I mean by that is that I grew up, waking up, to a Mum and Brother to guide me through my upbringing. My Brother is a supersmart guy who also seemed, and still does, one step ahead of everybody else, he’s a natural born leader, though does lack patience with other people, fantastic with business and money though.
By simon witney5 years ago in Families
It's Not Over Until It Is Over
This is a true story. It did indeed happen exactly as written. It is our story and I hope that it will inspire you, lift you up, encourage you and give you hope that no matter where you are in your life, you are not doing it alone...Trust Him!
By Robin Davis5 years ago in Families
Waiting to Exhale
It feels like I have been holding my breathe for a very long time. A long deep breathe that causes my heart to race, my palms to sweat and my head to spin. I remember when I took that last great gasp of air, it was when my first son, Bryan, was born. I was terrified of becoming a mother. I had no clue how to be one and the thought of being responsible for anyone other than myself was quite daunting. I was terribly young and niave and he was so tiny, barely six pounds. He reminded me of a little frog. He was due on Valentines Day but waited a little longer and came into this world effortlessly on February 18, 1985. I distinctly remember the very moment when my beautiful, perfect son was placed in my arms and I fell deeply, passionately, madly in love. My concerns melted away along with my heart. He took my breathe away.
By Robin Davis5 years ago in Families
First Time
This is my first entry on vocal. I find it fitting that I am a person who celebrates my first of most things. After reading through just a few of the amazing post here, I feel my voice may seem a bit different from most. The image above is my first time at Botanical Gardens. It’s amazing how many first we can have in a lifetime. I often say that it is my goal to be appreciated more with repetition. Every experience is better than the last. I am so excited to share some of my simple truths. I hope that my post will be received as a day in the life of who I am today. I have always loved words. In fact, I call words my first true love. Truthfully, it was an arranged marriage orchestrated by my father as a form of punishment that proved to be reward. When I was growing up, I survived a lot of trauma. Most people don’t know unless we actually engage in a conversation where my experiences must be disclosed for understanding to be achieved. My mom used to tell me that I was supposed to be dead three times before I was born. The fact that I am alive, meant I had a purpose. I’m going to try and navigate through this as best I can. I’m so excited and eager to tell the right stories and post them in the right places to enable someone, only God knows who, to read and exhale.
By Kendell K. Lee5 years ago in Families
The Month That Changed The World
“Do people really eat bats?” my 8 year old asked me, eyes wide as we all clambered into the car after a day at school. As I tossed the backpacks, kit bags and lunch boxes in the back of the car a discussion broke out between the children. My 11-year-old daughter and two 8-year-old sons seemed to have a plethora of information about this deadly virus that had reportedly originated in China. Half listening, half pondering if I could take another route home to skip the school run traffic, I was admittedly entertained by how they debated the alleged facts they had gathered in the playground. As the volume escalated I decided to diffuse the topic and took it as the perfect opportunity to reinforce my daily begging for them to wash their hands, for which I received 3 almost rehearsed eye rolls and groans. This was at the beginning of February and I must confess current affairs were not at the top of my daily things to keep up with. I was in the process of finalizing a collection for Ramadan and preparing to return to London in a few weeks for surgery. I dismissed the Corona Virus as media frenzy and simply didn’t have the headspace to even attempt to process it. Before I left, family and friends urged me to wear a mask in the airport. I had just read an article, which of course was later found to be false, that masks provide no benefit and I didn’t want to buy into what appeared to me to be simply scaremongering.
By Maha Gorton5 years ago in Families
