Knowing that you have a safety net to catch you is a different kind of feeling  It’s a concrete kind of confidence emboldening the lens with which I view mys...

How do I clearly articulate what you mean to me? How do I narrow a list of so many stories down? How do I choose? How do I tell them I am literally my dad's ...

My dad was an exceptional man and I was, and am, so proud to be his daughter. He was a physician who dabbled in woodworking. He traveled extensively to scuba...

As kids of divorce, I think you can go one of two ways. You either want nothing to do with marriage or you have all these ideas about how you're going to do ...

My parents both left Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and studied at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands where they met, learned a new language, married and s...

I was so honored and pleased to write this love note to Giovanni. He is a great dad and partner. I want everyone to know how amazing he is and how fortunate w...

The “strong father” is a constant, a central motif in my family’s story. The patriarchal foundation that undergirds my lineage is so strong, that reverence ...

This Father’s Day season, I have an unusual joy. Having lost my own dad 7 years ago, it’s typically been a day of grief and pain. But this year my partner Wi...

You have just received what is possibly the worst news of your life. Your incredible and devoted wife of 21 years, mother to your 9 children- 6 boys and 3 gi...

“I don’t want to be one of those guys,” my husband said to me. “I want to be home for dinner with our kids, every night.” We didn't have children yet, but Je...

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, sudde...

If I had to guess my father’s love language growing up, I would say it was quality time. He would spend time with me and others with care that hugged us with...

Dear Bobby,⁣⁣ While we remember very different versions of my childhood, one thing we agree on was⁣⁣ the story of me going off to college. Early on, it was c...

It would have been very easy to choose my own mother as the woman who has most inspired me as a mother, which is true.  But there is someone else that I have...

I recently read a quote that said, “Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother.” Fortunately for me, my life came with Bobbie Jean— a true south...

My mom is my greatest example of unconditional love and self-sacrifice. My mother was 16 going on 17 when I was born, and she was determined to give me the b...

At 43 years old, well into my career, and with plenty of life experience under my belt, it never ceases to amaze me how much I still rely on the guidance, em...

May 1, 2018, I nervously walked into my Mother’s hospital room and saw her. She had been viciously attacked by two Pit Bulls the night before and throughout ...

On March 23, 2001, I was brought into this world and introduced to my mother, Ivey Brandon. She has taken care of me for the past 18 years and I couldn’t tha...

I met Kara over 20 years ago. I was taking summer school classes at the local “Harvard on the Highway” AKA community college and, for anyone who remotely know...