One day last summer, I decided to go swimming. It was a windy day with few people on the beach — only some surfers taking pleasure on the waves. I admired...

Last year my father, my only immediate family member nearby, was deported to Mexico after residing in the United States for nearly 40 years. I had lived with him most of...

During my second pregnancy, my husband and I moved from Connecticut to Ohio. Since so much around me was new and I was not working, many days with my toddler felt...

At age fourteen I endured six months of abuse by a classmate. I flinched when her slimy spit hit my face, her fingers jabbed my back on bus rides home, or...

I was diagnosed with myopia and astigmatism a few years ago. Fellow sufferers know how difficult it is to depend on wearing glasses; but without glasses, everything is blurred and difficult...

The businessman in line behind me at the post office had a plane to catch. When others waiting in line began idle chat about the slow service, he said, “It’s really...

Every November our women’s group hosts a bake sale to raise money for local missions. Our bake sales unite different generations in our church to work as one body. This year...

A fire spread quickly through the flats, and the entire building was almost completely destroyed. Over eighty people died in the blaze. Hundreds had become homeless, many left standing in the...

As I was going through the difficult end of a marriage and moving into the even-more-challenging role of a single parent, I became an expert in hiding my emotions. In public...