| This is the 602nd story of Our Life Logs® | “Ma’am, you have been ordered to come with us.” That was what was said to me on one of the scariest days of my life. It was a day I thought would never come--not after all I had been through. My name is Zhang Rong, but I am known as Helen to my family and friends. I was born on November 18, 1921; it was the coldest day on record in Changshu, China. I had three older siblings, and our family was well off because my father was a sal

I wish I left at that moment, but I didn’t. I was young, dumb, and in love. It went downhill from that point on...

I was just a teenager watching my mother grow weak. And when she was gone, my father was not the type to take over her caring spirit. He was

It took about 12 hours before the search and rescue team found Eloy’s lifeless body on a sandbank. I called my mother-in-law, repeating the

Now comes the hard truth: If you’re not in love with your life, or at least enjoy most aspects of it, it’s not a good time to try and...

I remember how I used to wait for my mother to feel ready enough to take me back. But I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

I caught him lying about money, women—you name it—and we argued about almost everything. One day, I asked him a simple question only to be

| This is the 564th story of Our Life Logs® | I was born and raised in Las Vegas in the 1960s as an only child. I had a wonderful childhood, but after getting pregnant young, I had to grow up fast. I soon found myself with a son, two daughters, and a man who I thought loved me to the ends of the earth. He controlled everything from where I went, who I was friends with, how I dressed, how often I saw my family, what I said, and even how our kids were raised. I never wanted to

| This is the 551st story of Our Life Logs® | The year was 1981. I was fresh out of high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I had just turned 18. People started calling me an “adult” and the world began to open up for me in ways it had never opened up before. This included love. I met a man who showered me with attention and, though he was 5 years older than me, I was in love. He looked so mature and so handsome, and it seemed like he adored me. All he had to do was smile and h

For years, I had worked day and night for my sons to get the education they needed so that they could get away from their abusive father

What if my baby caught it? I knew from that moment that, no matter the cost, I would fight to protect my family.

My father made little money as a government officer and could not afford to take care of us kids...

People used to look at me and see nothing more than an addict who couldn’t keep a needle out of her arm long enough to...

...In that time, race was a pretty big issue, with African Americans having spent the past decade fighting for their civil rights...

But it is also known for being smack in the middle of the Bible Belt, where children say “yes, ma’am,” and “no, sir,”...

Teaching, preaching, writing, and interacting with students of all ages gave me a sense of satisfaction, and I was happy...

We would grow up, and things from our childhood would start making sense. But some things are always going to be beyond our comprehension...

A bunch of wildflowers left my hands and dropped upon his grave. It was clear that the goodbyes were final. I was burying my husband...

Traditionally, Indian families want boys, but as they already had a son, my parents welcomed my birth with all their heart...

Being the fourth of fourteen children, there was little love or food to go around in our household, and from an early age, I wanted out...