Category: Friends + Family

The Belly Bag: A Fashion Faux Pas?

Mary Rowen

During the summer of 1985, I swore I’d never wear my possessions in a pouch on my stomach. I was a goofy college kid preparing for a year abroad in Europe, and my sweet, safety-conscious dad came home from work one day, announcing he’d gotten me something special and important Read more

Mary Rowen

Mary Rowen is a writer and blogger who often writes about women of various ages growing up or figuring out what they want from this world. She grew up in the Massachusetts Merrimack Valley, graduated from Providence College, and has worked as a teacher, marketing writer, and political canvasser. She lives in the Boston area with her husband, two teenage children, dog and cat.

I am a Counterfeit Memory Hero

Dave Pasquel

As I turned on the light and maneuvered my way into the closet, I made full use of my Tetris skills. I shuffled past boxes of record albums, computer parts and dozens of other boxes of unrecognizable junk and crammed my way to the very back. After much sweating, swearing, Read more

My Grandmother’s Love: The Legacy of Alexandria Frahm

Louisa Frahm

It’s been a year, and yet it feels like just yesterday. A year ago this week, my grandmother, my idol, my mentor, my best friend, received her angel wings. She was 95. Through her life, she set the ultimate example of how to live with compassion, humor, and grace. Making Read more

Louisa Frahm

Louisa Frahm was born and raised in San Diego, California. After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a journalism degree in 2012, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of working in entertainment. Thus far, her career path has taken her from retail, to online marketing, to a specific niche of online marketing called SEO, which is now her specialty. Though her journey was a roundabout one, Louisa eventually found her way back to her one true love: entertainment. Currently, she is the SEO coordinator for E! Entertainment, specifically E! Online. When she isn’t performing website optimizations and tracking trending topics in her day job, Louisa is running her pop culture blog popoflouisa.com and expanding her writing portfolio. Louisa prides herself on her positive attitude and optimistic perspective on life. The perennial people pleaser, her life’s mission is to bring joy to others. Nicknamed “happy baby” at birth, she lives up to her reputation, always encouraging others to look at the glass half full.

Now is the Winter of Our Discontent

JR Roessl

After more than thirty years, I have come to loathe New England winters, specifically the ones in the Hudson Valley where I reside with my family in an 1890’s barn. Not withstanding the freakishly mild one we are having this year, I generally start whining to anyone who’s within spitting Read more

JR Roessl

After more than thirty years as a model and actor, JR moved to the Hudson Valley in 2006. She lives in an 1880 renovated barn with her husband and young daughter and three crazy bengal cats. She received her B.A. in creative writing from NYU and has written a memoir about her teenage years spent sailing on the high seas. She is thrilled to be writing for the Feminine Collective.

Catholic Girls

Dori Owen

They showed you a statue and told you to pray They built you a temple and locked you away But they never told you the price that you pay For things that you might have done… —Billy Joel, “Only the Good Die Young” My parents might have had a better Read more

Dori Owen

Dori Owen is a storyteller, writing from small town Arizona, after living a few decades in California as an LA Wild Child, with a brief stop in Reno. She settled into grownup life as a project manager, collecting an MBA and a few husbands along the way. She is a shown artist and her favorite pastime is upcycling old furniture and decor she finds from thrift stores. She lives with the cat who came to visit but stayed. The love of her life is her grown son who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her essays and poems have been published in RAW&UNFILTERED VOL I, StigmaFighters Vol 2, and Love Notes From Humanity. Her blogs have been featured on The Lithium Chronicles, Open Thought Vortex, Sudden Denouement, and The Mighty.

Lalochezia: Emotional Relief Gained by Swearing

Shanna DeMott

The phone won’t stop ringing. First, it was a call from the dentist. Then my daughter’s doctor confirming her appointment on Monday. Then work. Then work again. I’m on deadline and trying to get the software to stop crashing every time I try to save one of my edits. The Read more

Shanna DeMott

Shanna Sabet-DeMott is a freelance writer living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her husband George DeMott, sings Italian arias in the shower, and Pop-Opera around the world. She has an 11-year old daughter who has survived 3 brain surgeries, and who has shown her Mama the meaning of bravery at every turn. She is a lover of telling stories about food and life on her blogs, eatingoutvegas.com and stumblingbeauty.com.

Creating My Father’s Legacy: Martin Elkort’s Photography

Stefani Twyford

In the spring of 2014, I stepped up to a podium in the Brown Auditorium Theater of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The place was full and the audience attentive, expectant. They had just seen my documentary, “Martin Elkort: An American Mirror” about my father, and I was unsure Read more

Stefani Twyford

President and Founder of Legacy Multimedia, Stefani Twyford has more than 18 years experience designing, developing and implementing award-winning video biographies and tribute videos. Prior to starting Legacy Multimedia, she built and headed a successful Houston-based web design, e-commerce and marketing firm. With degrees in design, psychology and social work, Twyford also shares her knowledge about the importance and process of creating a meaningful legacy with her engaging presentations to various organizations. Twyford excels at helping people craft their stories and share their memories. Her commitment to high-quality work and customer service, and her gift for putting people at ease help her clients capture their stories in a way that will endure for generations. Her firm commitment to the arts, to the technology community and to women in business has helped many others and served as inspiration for the next generation of talented professionals. In 2012 she turned the lens on her own family and her father’s profile as a known street photographer. Her documentary “Martin Elkort: An American Mirror” screened mid 2014 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston followed by other screenings around the US and has won a 2014 Gold Remi Award for Best Documentary from Worldfest International Film Festival.

Don’t Leave a Voicemail Unless You’re My Mother

Dori Owen

Even with this clear instruction recorded on my phone’s greeting, invariably, friends and family will still leave me little messages that sound something like this–not ranked in order of annoyance. “Hi, it’s Karen. I know I’m not your mother, but please call me.” “Oh, hi. Ha ha. Funny. Call me. Read more

Dori Owen

Dori Owen is a storyteller, writing from small town Arizona, after living a few decades in California as an LA Wild Child, with a brief stop in Reno. She settled into grownup life as a project manager, collecting an MBA and a few husbands along the way. She is a shown artist and her favorite pastime is upcycling old furniture and decor she finds from thrift stores. She lives with the cat who came to visit but stayed. The love of her life is her grown son who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her essays and poems have been published in RAW&UNFILTERED VOL I, StigmaFighters Vol 2, and Love Notes From Humanity. Her blogs have been featured on The Lithium Chronicles, Open Thought Vortex, Sudden Denouement, and The Mighty.