Grandmother-ish

Trudging up the stairs to my grandmother’s third-floor walkup in Manhattan we finally arrive at our destination, tired and panting from carrying our bags, the stroller, and Haven, our two-year-old daughter. We knock once, and my mother opens the door immediately. “Hey, everyone. Happy you made it down safe,” she Read more

Marisa Svalstedt

Marisa Svalstedt is a stay-at-home mom living in Connecticut, with her husband, and their daughter. She received her MA in English from Western Connecticut State University. Her writing has been featured on Babble, The Mighty, and Her View from Home. In addition to writing, she enjoys crochet, photography, drinking tons of coffee, and jumping on trampolines.

Oneiric projectiles: Dreaming My Female Ancestors Forward

My mother comes to pick me up from kindergarten and is pulled aside by the teacher. “Your daughter doesn’t color between the lines.” “She knows how she just doesn’t want to.” One week later, the same conversation repeats. So, my mother chooses another school for me—my mother, who dropped out Read more

Hiba Zafran

Hiba Zafran is a therapist and academic working in mental health. She is drawn to critical and queering lenses, as well as poetic explorations of encounters as relational spaces of transformation. Her literary work is just starting to step out there, with a poem in The Muse and honorable mention for a micro-essay in Mothers Always Write. She is grateful for the people, values, and peripheries that she calls her home.

The Benefits of Traveling with Your Grandchildren

“Pick Em’ Off … One At a Time!” Those of us who are grandparents know that you had better not make a promise to one of your grandchildren unless you mean it. I am blessed to have, Sascha Yasmeen Ellison, who I often say is my favorite granddaughter. However, she 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.

Spacca Montagna:The Mountain Breaker

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.

My Grandmother’s Love: The Legacy of Alexandria 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.

Keeping Grandmother with Me

There have been many miracles over the years … taking a sip of water for the first time after three years of not being able to eat or drink, a coma and at 27, grueling circumstances are certainly significant. When I was 18—a week before my high school senior prom—I 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.