Big or small, everyone makes plans for their future. As a girl who loved to dream, I had made plenty. Whether we lose ourselves in...

When my mother was pregnant with me, all the family had been expecting a baby girl. Though when the morning came, they were quite shocked...

I have always been an easy-going person. Most of my life, I had basically had one mood: happy, more than able to roll with the punches.

Though the city was tinged with gang violence, I roamed the neighborhoods without fear; a free-spirited soul I was. After playing outside...

My job was to look after the chickens and then collect and clean their eggs. As a family, we all worked together to keep the farm running...

I used to love watching my mom do her makeup. I remember how my mom would put me in a highchair when I was just about one or two years...

As the last born in a family of six siblings, I don’t remember much of my childhood until the death of my father in 1997. When my mother...

September 1, 2017. To many this was just another day; but for me, it was my last day as a “Ms.” The next day, I was going to say “I do...

I grew up with a warped understanding of love and received little attention from my parents. I searched for affection all my life, but...

I had a great childhood full of fun family vacations and playing outside. I mostly hung around with my brothers and their friends, which...

Growing up, we never thought we lacked anything because everyone in the village seemed to have exactly what your family had. If you ate...

Living simply has been ingrained in me. I was born in the late 1950s in Danville, Kentucky, and raised by my great-grandmother...

When I tell people I’m 100 years old, their eyes widen like they’re looking at a rare gem. I suppose I am, but I don’t see it that way...

While working on the farm as a young boy, I had time to daydream. As I milked cows and plucked chickens, I played the “what-if” game with...

During this time in the United States, children were free to play outside without much danger. It was a simpler yet happier time, a time...

Before all the construction took over, I would walk up to the hills that weren’t cleared off and breathe in the summer air. You could see...

After my parents divorced four years after my birth, I was raised by my paternal grandparents on their farm. At times, I had a trying...

It’s hard to close the doors to the past. Though sometimes, it is necessary to move on, because that closed door often opens another...

I had a normal, Catholic upbringing. My mother’s family was Irish, and my father’s family was Italian, creating a melting pot of heritage...

When it appears that the world is trying to destroy you, you have two options. You can let it, or you can fight back. Even in times when...