grandparents
Becoming a grandparent makes getting older something to look forward to - all the fun of parenting, without the hassle.
Grandpa, Is that You?
He was sitting by the windows, alone, sipping a cup of coffee and studying the menu. I was early for a conference on Hispanic Excellence in Television at the studio across the street, so I stopped in for some breakfast. We were both alone. I was dressed to impress, wearing a pressed green and black suit. He was comfortable in a wrinkled blue shirt, old tennis shoes and a dull gold band on the ring finger of his weathered left hand. Every now and again, he would push his wire-rimmed glasses up his nose.
By Candice Cain5 years ago in Families
Grandmother's eyes
A white house with windows into a pink-walled home, a creaky wooden deck holds a white wooden bench with paint chipping off. We sit as the sun sets with orange, yellow, and red after a day of work. The door with an iron ‘C’ marking my grandmother’s house open to let a musky air out from the spoiled food and moldy sponges, running a small hand over the iron as the adults handle the musk. I was young, like anyone would be when she watched me as my mother went off to adventures unknown. We made cookies in her absence, I cleaned my grandmother’s glasses’ for once, played with an old telephone wrapped in cloth, and on that white wooden bench with paint chipping off we creaked as my mother pulled up again.
By Julie Angleton5 years ago in Families
Winning
Taylor should have asked for her brother’s help in lugging all these heavy boxes up to the house – instead he dropped her on the sidewalk surrounded by what seemed a mountain of suitcases, boxes and pot plants. Even after all these years she found it hard to ask anyone for help and she realised as she puffed and heaved her way up the stairs that this was a habit that needed to change.
By Helen Smith5 years ago in Families
The Chest from Milan
The um... ...the news about Nonno’s passing didn’t make... as big of a commotion in the family as I thought it would... and... I know that the last year hasn’t been easy for any of us right now, so I'm sorry ahead of time... but I expected more from us.
By Luigi Alvarez5 years ago in Families
Treasure at Willow Manor
As Rayna sat starring at Willow Manor, she wondered, "How long had it been since she walked through those gates?" Her eyes welled up with tears remembering the last time she saw her beloved grandmother and Willow Manor. She was eighteen and headed to college. The first time she had ever been away from home. While grandmother visited her in Boston, she never took the time to return to the manor. Now it has been twenty years, and she had no choice but to return. Grandmother had fallen ill and needed her help.
By Laura Trombley5 years ago in Families
Little Black Book
Today feels like the day that the hurricane hits me. I tell myself this everyday while eager with anticipation. Some days are sprinkled with inspiration. I make sure to document those sprinkles, so I can use them later to create the hurricane that I’m longing for. I have a little sprinkle collector that I keep with me always. That little black notebook has seen and heard things that would make your mother blush. I mean, you just never know when the hurricane will come in. I consciously tell myself that I will be receptive to whatever form that inspiration comes in, without getting in its way. I observe everything to see if that inspiration is peeking around the corner. I also have to remind myself that while I’m focusing on what’s peeking, that the inspiration could be walking right past me. Don’t fixate is what I can hear my nana say to me softly. Just be open.
By Tiffany Miles5 years ago in Families
The Little Black Notebook
Sarah walked into the old house and looked around. Dust covered everything, floral wallpaper peeling off the walls, and birds had come in through a broken window to make nests in the sconces. She wrinkled her nose at the musty smell and heaved a sigh, wondering what she was going to do with this mess of a house. The house had belonged to her grandparents and she had vague memories of visiting as a child, but had not been there in over thirty years. Nobody had lived here in decades and it was obvious by the appearance. The house had good bones but needed a lot of work to make it livable. She wandered from room to room, looking at old photos of people she did not know and the variety of knick knacks on the shelves. The Victorian style furniture had been covered in protective plastic, so it had been saved from the years of neglect.
By Terresa L Nelsen5 years ago in Families
When Prince Got Me Kicked Out of my Great Grandmother's House.
I grew up in Texas as an only child to a single mother. Once school was out for summer, my mom couldn't afford to pay for childcare, so I typically spent my summers in Mississippi staying with family, namely floating between my grandmother's place and my great grandparents' house. One particular summer while staying with my great grandparents, my young-crazy-cool aunt rented a house down the street from them and I made every attempt to spend time with her. The problem was, her and my great grandmother didn't always get along.
By Erica Roberts 5 years ago in Families
The Little Black Book Challenge
Elizabeth sat across the mahogany desk from a stifled man who was seemingly uptight. He was an older man with crystal blue eyes, that although they were tarnished by multiple folds of sagging skin and unsightly moles, remained beautiful in a haunting way. All of his personality and social skills must have been stuffed into his ill-fitting off black suit, like a man trying on his wedding day tuxedo he'd retired several years prior. His hands, gnarled with arthritis, held onto a black leather book steadfastly; the book itself showing signs of great age. Aging in the way of cracks in binding and cover, crispy pages, and dog-eared pages whose edges would never be smooth again. Golden letters are carved into the face of the text and one side, "The Rules of The Cast." The clock ticked away the minutes as both Elizabeth and Mr. Carmichael, as he had introduced himself, exchanged awkward periods of exaggerated throat clearing and heavy sighs.
By Aaliyah Hanna5 years ago in Families
A history, lost
Having witnessed many changes in my lifetime, I find that I do not enjoy them. Since change is usually—to me—something negative, I find it hard to embrace. My mother calls me stubborn, but I call it loyalty. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for what I consider the biggest adjustment of my life.
By Shawna Blake5 years ago in Families
