Tag: family

Parenting Adult Children. Not.

Beatrice Bailey

Will somebody help me…please? This article could start out with “Outta Gonna Should-have”…regarding our adult children. Am I the only one who wished that they could turn back the hands of time? It is a slippery slope when your children move on to adulthood and you are still in your Read more

Beatrice Bailey

Beatrice Bailey was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa to a Baptist minister father and a mother who was a gospel recording artist. She has three sisters and one brother. She attended the University of Iowa and graduated with a BA in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento. Retired since 2004 from management positions with both the Xerox Corporation and the State of California, Bea now conducts customized seminars on “Budgeting for the Not So Rich and Famous”, “Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together…The Ultimate Balancing Act,” as well as interview techniques entitled, “Selling the Sizzle and Not the Steak.” In addition, she is an active member of St. Paul Baptist Church in Sacramento, CA, where she is an Adult Sunday School teacher. Bea has been a Head Feature Writer for Senior Magazine of Northern California. She also writes a monthly newspaper column entitled, “Uniquely Bea” Currently, she has authored a best-selling book, entitled, "Farewell, My Friend” and is conducting presentations and book signings throughout the United States and Mexico. "Radio Luz,” a Spanish Speaking Christian Radio Station, has interviewed her multiple times. Bea also was selected to be included in a book by The Author’s Show, as one of the "50 Outstanding Writers You Should Be Reading”. Bea has produced and hosted a new innovative television show, “A-Z with Bea”, which aired in November 2009 on RCCTV, Sacramento, CA. Bea is active at St. Paul Baptist Church and is an Adult Sunday school Teacher, and a Small Accountability Group Leader. She is a member of Kaiser’s Bio-Ethics Committee and on the Board of Advisors for the East Lawn Corporation. Recently, she has been asked to participate as a speaker with the Black Health Today national organization. To relax, Bea likes to work out at the gym, walk, knit, paint, sew, cook, garden, and read. Traveling within the United States, Mexico, Asia, the Caribbean, South America and Europe is one of Bea’s true passions. She has two adult children, one “bonus son”, five wonderful grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She resides in Northern California.

Are PTSD Survivors Weak? Here is What My Mom Thinks

Amy Oestreicher

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is anything but a weakness. It is our strength. It means that we kept going. About six of every ten adults in the United States experience at least one traumatic experience in their lifetime.  Some individuals who have gone through a trauma turn out fine, with Read more

Amy Oestreicher

Amy is a PTSD peer-to-peer specialist, artist, author, speaker for RAINN, writer for The Huffington Post, award-winning health advocate, actress and playwright eagerly sharing the lessons learned from trauma through her writing, performance, art and speaking.. In 2012, she wrote, directed and starred in a one woman musical about her life, Gutless & Grateful, touring theatres across the country for three years, and earning rave reviews and accolades since it’s BroadwayWorld Award-nominated NYC debut. As a visual artist, her art has been featured in esteemed galleries solo exhibitions, and her mixed media workshops emphasize creativity as an essential mindset. Amy’s “beautiful detour” inspired her to create the #LoveMyDetour movement, a social media campaign inspiring people to flourish because of, rather than in spite of challenges. Recipient of the Great Comebacks Award. Her Washington Post and On Being with Krista Tippet, and is a regular contributor for numerous publications including Elite Daily, The Mighty, Indie Chicks and Career Girl Daily. Her story has appeared on the TODAY Show, CBS, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen Magazine, among others. Amy's passion for the arts as a means of healing and expression led her to devise storytelling workshops for the Transformative Language Arts Network National Conference, the Eating Recovery Center Foundation, and The League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling. Determined to bridge the gap of communication between wellness resources on college campuses and students, Amy is currently touring college campuses with a program combining mental health advocacy, sexual assault awareness and Broadway Theatre. For information on keynote presentations, private coaching, workshops and signature talkbacks, visit amyoes.com.

’89

Richard DeFino

In a picture that dates back to 89’, my mother holds me close, my brother as well. She cradles us on top of a bar stool, points at the camera and smiles. She thinks this is love. But this is a disaster. This is hatred, cultivating, soon to blossom into Read more

Richard DeFino

Ricky De Fino grew up in New York City and currently resides in Buffalo NY. When he isn’t writing about his anxiety and his crazy Bronx upbringing, he enjoys watching countless hours of television with his wife Andrea, cat Bebe and dog Zeke. Two years sober, good coffee and veganism keeps him sane. His work can be found in Two Cities Review, tNY Press, Purple Pig Lit, Dialougal and Cycatrix Press.

25 Things About My Mother

Dori Owen

“But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins.” ―Mitch Albom, For One More Day 1. One of my first memories of my mother is her French braiding my hair while I sat on our kitchen stool. Unfortunately, this was class picture day 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.

The Last Time I Saw Them

Jayme Beddingfield

My husband and I sat at our undersized dining room table across from an escrow agent in a mismatched room ragged at the corners from being both over a hundred years old and a rental home for thirty. The woman’s low voice skimmed over the stack of contracts one by Read more

Jayme Beddingfield

Jayme Beddingfield is the host and producer of 'Too Many Words' a comedy interview podcast. She is also the creator of 'Elliot Granger and The Clueless Brigade', which is a weekly serial that follows Elliot Granger as she stumbles through grief and growing up. The series is featured as both a fictional podcast and written story that appears on The Scribbler. Jayme has been crafting stories since her third-grade assignment to write her own fairy tale. She prefers to work from the sofa with her dogs by her feet. Originally from Northern New Jersey, she now lives in Seattle, the city of her dreams. She lives with her husband, two children, and a slew of adopted pets. She is completely post-apocalyptic obsessed and also admits to being an audio enthusiast and recovering supervillain.

Spacca Montagna:The Mountain Breaker

Rita Fierro

I was given the wrong name of a woman who had one right way of doing everything. In Italy, grandchildren are named after grandparents as a sign of respect, to represent the continuation of life, and to pass on admired qualities. Grandparents tend to favor the grandchild that carries their Read more

Rita Fierro

Rita S. Fierro, Ph.D. is an intellectual artist who uses art and research to advocate, support, inspire, and bring forth a compassionate and just world.

Not Even a Saucer

Elisabeth Khan

Your silence speaks of anger… Your words, when they hatch at last, burrow like tiny poison darts into the softness that surrounds my heart, turn it into a bitter shield. What did I do? Surely I did nothing to invite this punishment? Or is it my very inertia, my passivity, Read more

Elisabeth Khan

Born in Belgium, I lived 25 years in Michigan before becoming a nomad traveling back and forth between the USA, Europe, the UAE, and India. I blog when I find the time but usually I am too busy living. A few of my stories and poems have been published in "Hanging Loose," "The McGuffin," and other places. My travels and my family are my main sources of inspiration.

When the Parent Becomes the Child

Dori Owen

“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” ―Andy Rooney Last Friday, as my Moms (I have two) were preparing bank deposits for me to run to the bank for them, I noticed they had dated 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.