family
Family unites us; but it's also a challenge. All about fighting to stay together, and loving every moment of it.
The symbol of enduring love: a Rose
Her name was Rose, her favorite flower was the double hibiscus. Our yard had three different colors and variety of hibiscus. That flower is beautiful and so was my mother. She did not work outside of the home. Her remarkable contribution to our home life was what she did inside the house with us, her family. We were taught not to call her, my dad and any other older person by their given name so from here on, I will refer to my mother as Mommy Rose.
By Lydia Seales-Fuller 5 years ago in Humans
Love of those of who can not speak
Within examining more into this quote from Aristotle, I do believe our own passions and happiness come from within ourselves. They are experiences and ideas as we once out together as a child or teen trying to figure out and learn who we are. For some the reason of happiness and passion can come from the mechanics of trains to body modifications. As for myself my ideas of happiness and passion has comes from Special Needs children and adults because I have grown up with a cousin who has special needs but was born with a heart of gold. Growing up with my cousin I just thought he was a normal kid like myself until one of my family members explained to me that he was born with Fetal alcohol syndrome and because his health issues he may not make it passed the age of twelve. Let me tell you even though my cousin went through so many surgeries nothing had stopped his superhuman strength in appearing in the Special Olympics. Growing up and getting to know my cousin has been a true blessing because he has inspired me to be a better person for those who need my help. Ever since then I have been able to get many certifications and help speak up for those who need a voice and a shoulder to lean on. I was working at a place called SYC in New Mexico and for the past several years that I have worked here it has taught me so much. SYC is a safe and secure place for adult with special needs to enjoy activities such as swimming, making arts and crafts, reaching their everyday goals, teaching them how to cook, and feel comfortable within their own skin. Even though some of my clients could not speak I found complete joy in them because they all came with their own sense of life and had very bright personalities. Learning to love and care for someone other than myself has taught me a lot about what my intended purpose is in life. I guess you can say that I have a maternal instinct that comes naturally to me and helping to watch those grow is an amazing feeling. Do not get me wrong it can be a little challenging just by the small yet simple things. Some activities have to be retaught day in a day out like for example basic hygiene or helping them with simple tasks around the house. I find that learning to care of someone can be challenging yet fulfilling because even though you may have a set schedule your client, family, or doctors can change things at any time. Expect the unexpected when being a part of this job. I feel like I got the natural part of taking of people because I had learned to take care of my grandfather when I was a teenager just to make sure he had the right diet because had diabetes. When you learn to be selfless and love those who ten to need it the world becomes a better place for the both of you. Special needs people don’t need some who hurts them but rather a person who they can trust and confide in. We as caretakers need to help them understand why we are there for them and how we can make the world a better place because they are put here in our lives to teach us lessons on how they feel what a devoted friend and caretaker should be. Our clients are the ones who have the greatest intuition on who is a good person and who is not just by their very own experiences. In the end my clients have taught me so much on how to be a better caretaker for them and I would not change it for the world.
By Charity Valdez5 years ago in Humans
The Way We Shine
“The moon taught me you do not have to be whole in order to shine.” That’s a quote I read once, some random bit of significance floating around the World Wide Web with no author, and I am here to tell you that it isn’t true. At least, it isn’t true for me. The moon never taught me that - my mother did.
By Cecilia Barnhill5 years ago in Humans
How I got to an IQ over 137
We must understand what it is like to be a child of today. The world is fast-moving and knowledgeable like never before. Learning is so much more advanced than it was a hundred years ago. Even though children still think the way they do like they did since the beginning. Children grow and mature by play. Play is the ultimate learning experience. If the child is around children their age then they learned the norms and rituals of their age. They envisioned themselves as co-peer in society. They tried each time harder and harder to fit in and show their capabilities. And parents should encourage this to make well-rounded children. Children each year have to figure out their age and the requirements for their age. School helps this, this is why they need to have friends and explore the world. They need to know what are children doing their age. Everything is like a dream and being young seems forever. Children need to know that they will age and that they will become adults. Teachers must show them the way to knowledge and how to be as smart as they can be. Children like me, don't understand IQ numbers, I did not know my IQ of 120 in Middle School meant that I was a gifted child, however, my teachers knew and peers knew. It took me years to understand how really smart I was. And meet with the stigmas, stereotypes such as racism on tests, my belief in character, decency, intelligence and respect helped me overcome those bigotries with an SAT Score of 1370. Supportive teachers' cohort and supportive counselors' cohort can verify what a student knows about themselves. With me, I was smart and growing smarter, and maturing in my studies. This comes from years of self-denial and self-ignorance like most children think. They think because they are small and little now that they will never conquer the world. Children must be given heroes and heroines, it does not have to be someone perfect but someone who defied the odds. Even if they are fictional, children dream of fiction, and fiction helps them imagined the impossible. Children must be taught how to believe in themselves and build up their character. They must be taught loyalty to learning and dignity in gaining knowledge. They must be taught what is patriotism and how to be dedicated. Children can keep promises and children can become men of their word and women of their word. It is not enough to make children smart, they must know how to apply their knowledge and show independence. This is why college is important. It is not just about the job and social class climb, it's about the growth. Children learned how to live without their parents and understand the way the world sees them. They begin to take the obstacle of life and see if they can endure its trials and tests. Parents can see if they raise their children properly and can advise them to be greater. Parents must take the general counsel and their children become the sole decider in their life. It takes great faith but if you plant seeds of hope, it cannot fail. The course of knowledge continues beyond college as college is the testing ground. Teachers are role models, I looked at every teacher's background to understand what they can teach me outside the curriculum because teachers are more than instructors, they are an investment into who a student becomes. Teachers are role models and philosophers, they are the sole decider of the atmosphere of the classroom. Children must be taught how to brainstorm innately and constantly be thinking about their predicament. Their state of learning and then they will develop into productive members of society.
By Distinguished Honorary Alumni Dr. Matthew Primous5 years ago in Humans
The Perfect Example
There is so much I have learned about life from my mother, but not how most might think. Yes, my mother had SOME positive influences, but mostly, my mother taught me some of the harder things in life that most parents try to shield their children from. One of the best things about life that my mother taught me, that was positive, was how to never to rely on a man to be the provider of the family. My mother married my dad when they were younger, so her highest level of education had been a high school diploma. She never could have imagined that by her early 30’s she would be a widow with 2 young children trying to survive on just a high school diploma. I was 6 when my father died from cancer, and for that first year, my mother really struggled trying to provide for my brother and me. Eventually, she had to send me and my brother to stay with our aunt and uncle during the week, and she used that time to go back to school. That is about as far as the positives go when it comes to my mother. But everything else she has taught me, as negative as the experiences were, has made me the person I am today. Someone that is the opposite of her. After my father died, I had a very rough life, thanks in large part to my mother. At the age of 6 years old, I had to grow up rather quickly due to my mother having a severe mental illness. She was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder (MPD/DID) less than a year after my father’s death. Her alters were suicidal and she “lost time” for majority of the day. My mom could barely handle just showing up for work and school. Everything else, I had to step up and take care of. By the time I was 7, I was in charge of doing all the cooking for me, my older brother and my mother, writing and mailing checks to pay all the bills including the mortgage, all the laundry and cleaning of the house, and I also had to check the house everyday before leaving for school to make sure I remembered to lock all of my mother’s medications (or any medications for that fact) and remove any and all sharp objects which she could use to try to kill herself with. After school, I always had to come straight home and get the house ready for me to be on suicide watch for her. My mother worked extremely hard in therapy to get better, and she did for a while. But her progress, while it helped with her mental illness, her true colors started to show through, and she was not a good person. I think I would much rather prefer having a severely mentally ill parent than what my mother was. I finally got enough courage to tell someone (my aunt), that my mother’s step-father had been molesting me from the NIGHT my father died, up until I was about 12 or 13. When my aunt helped me tell my mother, I got blamed and called a “little slut”. That was my first lesson I will never forget. Can’t trust anybody, not even family. Someone who was supposed to protect me, blamed me. Then she tried to say I was making it up, yet, he had done the same thing to her which is why she had the mental illness. She failed to protect me then and she failed to protect me from my older brothers physical abuse. Then her personalities got out of control again. Just as I was about to go into Jr. High, and starting to make a lot of new friends, and I couldn’t even do normal kid stuff, like sleepovers, or even have friends over after school. Not because she didn’t allow me to, but because I was too embarrassed because I never knew if I would come home to find my mother, a grown adult, sitting on the floor playing with cars because her 5-year-old alter was in control at the time. Just before my freshman year, my mother taught me the biggest lesson of all-that I was nothing to her. After years and years of emergency room visits for broken bones and other injuries as a result of my brother’s abuse, he had finally hurt me so bad that the hospital no longer believed my mother’s lies about how I got hurt. My brother had gotten upset because he thought I was eating his favorite snacks (which I absolutely hated) so he took a metal bat and cracked me in the face with it, breaking my jaw. I had to get metal plates on both sides of my lower jaw, and had it wired shut. The hospital staff knew it was no accident, so they wanted to talk to me alone. I couldn’t speak, but I could write, and I didn’t hesitate to write my brother’s name when they asked who hurt me. The hospital called the police and got them involved and my mother begged and pleaded with them not to arrest my brother. She asked if they would at least release him to her custody so he wouldn’t go to juvenile hall. The police informed her that due to the emergency protection order for my safety, my brother and I absolutely could not live under the same roof. My mother looked at me and told me not to worry, she will pack all my things and my aunt can pick me up after the surgery, I was not her problem anymore. That was the best thing my mother has ever done for me, letting me go live with my aunt and uncle. My aunt is the one who has been there for me, who taught me right from wrong after so many years of “this is wrong but….” Justifications my mother taught me. But more importantly, my aunt taught me how to work through all the trauma my mother caused me, and still see the good in everything instead of closing myself off and not trust anyone, or anything else that could hold me back from my full potential. My aunt taught me that although there are bad things in life, that does not excuse anyone from doing the same thing to others that had happened to them. My mother never did finish college, but she did get a good job working at a church as a secretary. She worked there for quite a while, almost long enough to earn a pension, but she even messed that up. 6 months before she would have had enough time working there to receive a pension, she got caught stealing money. When they confronted her about it, she admitted she had been stealing thousands of dollars every month for the past 8-10 years (basically the entire time she had been employed there). I do not regret the experiences I went through with my mother, nor would I change anything if I could, because in her sick and twisted ways, she taught me exactly who I DIDN’T want to become. My biggest fear is having any sort of resemblance to my mother in any way, but it is that fear that proves I will never be anything like her, according to my aunt. My mother is content with her evil and twisted ways, regardless of who is hurt by her, and I could never be like that to anyone. I know the pain she can cause and it sucked when I went through it, so why cause someone else that sort of pain? I could never do that. So regardless of how horrible my mother truly is, I am so thankful for teaching me about the many evils in this world (and how to overcome no matter what), and for teaching me exactly who I don’t want to be. Everything good in my life, is because of what my aunt has instilled in me. If I end up even half as great as my aunt is, I could honestly be satisfied with all I have been able to accomplish in my life.
By Jennifer R Mckinney5 years ago in Humans
Belsara and Nidas Narrative poem by Leo Auciello
Page1 'BEGIN' Slowly, yes slowly do not make haste for the fancies of the heart must aspire freely and not at the will of the suitor Patience, yes patience the machinations are known to no-one, with patience the fall from heaven is not so wounding Love, what of love ? comes and goes of its own choosing, merit that some are more prone to its seduction and fall deeper into the abyss Heart, yes beating heart erupt from my chest in anxiousness, leave me, be gone! Be strong, my mind must will it! I, what of you? Know this truth and walk steadily to the well from which you wish to drink, For many in their haste have drowned.
By Leo CountKronus Auciello5 years ago in Humans
Through the Fire
My mom is anything but average; she's a lover of psychology with a deeply held desire to be a part of the medical world, she's strong and independent to a fault, she's an autism parent who has seen it all. Most importantly, she showed me what it means to truly be selfless in love.
By Mary Tophen 5 years ago in Humans
Guitar Repair Woman
My mother told me, If you ever become a rock star, don’t smash the guitar. There are too many other poor kids out there who have nothing, Buddy, and they see that shit, when all they wanna do is play that thing. Boy, you better let them play.
By Buddy Wakefield5 years ago in Humans
Tom Tom Was A Big Cat:
Tom Tom Was A Big Cat: Tails of the East Side of Town John W. Gilmore Tom Tom was a big cat...the biggest I have ever seen. Some may think Tom Tom was a Maine Coon Cat. They are often giants with very long, shaggy hair. They are big enough to look like small cougars. Tom Tom wasn’t like that. Tom Tom wasn’t shaggy. Tom Tom was your typical domesticated cat, but he was very big.
By Om Prakash John Gilmore5 years ago in Humans
Ladybugs
Start writing... Ladybugs I can remember being a small child feeling pure joy. I’ve recalled this memory many times when I think about being truly happy. It was a bright, sunny, fall afternoon as I stepped from the big yellow school bus. It was red at the bottom from the long red dirt road I lived on with my Grandparents. I walked around the bus in the slow manner I normally did. I was tired from the school day and my constant striving to be perfect. I was, as always, dreading getting home. As I turned the corner I saw her standing there in the grass just inside the black wooden fence. Her long, red, curly hair was blowing across her big smile, the smile she tried so hard to hide from the rest of the world because she was self-conscious, but not from me. My mommy was waiting on me! I ran into her waiting, open arms. She picked me up, spinning me around and around. We laughed until we cried. We cried the kind of tears that flow straight from the soul when it can’t contain its joy. Dizzy from the spinning, we fell into the tall grass in the field. To this day, I can remember the sound of her voice, the way she smelled, and how my hand fit into hers. I can remember how I felt, calm, safe, and completely loved. I find it difficult to remember a lot of my childhood. I’ve managed to block most of it, letting it fade into clouds of my mind like a deep thick fog. But, I remember every detail of this moment vividly. As we laid there in the tall bahaya grass, she told me how much she loved me, bunches and bunches she said. I rambled on and on telling her everything I had to tell, which was usually a lot. She was the only person alive that eagerly listened to what I had to say. She was the only person I could talk to, with everyone else, I would say my thoughts over and over in my head and then choose to keep my thoughts to myself in fear of being judged or ridiculed, a habit I am still trying to escape. All my emotions and words built up over the long periods of time we were apart, time that felt like an eternity to a child’s mind. As we talked, a ladybug landed on my cheek. It tickled as it crawled on my face. I gasped with excitement as another ladybug landed on my bare leg. We both giggled looking into each other’s eyes. Her eyes were like looking into the deep ocean, both blue and green at the same time. She whispered softly in my ear, “Be still my love, they will come to you.” I laid perfectly still, closing my eyes. Sun spots danced behind my eyelids. The sun was shining down on us warm and calming. The wind was singing through the blades of grass as they swayed gently around us. One after another, ladybugs began to land on both of us. She whispered once again in a voice that I now conjure as angelic. “My sweet baby girl, my Hope, anytime I’m away from you, when you see a ladybug, know that I am with you,”
By Lori Santana5 years ago in Humans
