Microfiction — The woman with the white collar had obviously been broken at some point, as she had been put back together. Whoever had delicately pieced her back together had put shimmering gold paint where all the cracks had been glued, piece by piece, like the rim of a delicate china tea…

Jean, your journey is truly inspiring! Your resilience and determination shine through your story. Thank you for sharing your experiences. God bless you too!

A Balance Between Sports, Health, Writing, And Growth — 1. Sports are my roots Sports have always been my roots, sinking deep beneath the ground. I guess I was destined for it, since my dad was a professional baseball player and my uncles were all athletes. I loved playing sports ever since I was a kid. I remember shooting a basketball in my driveway…

December 8, 2020 I got Oona when I was sixteen. Half my lifetime ago, this little earthbound angel invited herself into my home and my heart. She became my co-pilot, my shadow, my confidant. A pint-sized best friend at a time when I needed one the most. Oona singlehandedly rewrote the book on…

How True Friends Show Their Love and Support in Times of Need — True friends are not those who are always there to celebrate your success, but those who stand by you in times of hardship and adversity. They are the ones who offer you a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, or a word of encouragement when you need it the…

A prominent military blogger who provided an often critical commentary on Russia’s war in Ukraine has been killed in a blast in a cafe in St Petersburg. Vladlen Tatarsky — the pen name for Maxim Fomin — had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram. Tatarsky championed Russia’s war effort. After…

How could I possibly escape this horror movie-like scenario? — CW: This story contains elements of animal killing as chickens are being prepared to be sold. My dad came home from work like a mobster on that 1992 summer afternoon in South Dakota. A very corny mobster. He grabbed a dusty fedora from the closet, put it on his head…

She swore I stole her wallet to read it — My Aunt Sylvia was such a legend in our family. We all thought she was gay, not that we cared. …

The healing power of a city — Dear London, We met 6 years ago when I was in one of my darkest places. It was the beginning of a journey that would take me down into the depths of depression, through self-discovery, and into a new world, one I had never even considered. Coming to you was…

Week 147 of the photographic documentary of my daily life — It's been a great week. Between blue skies and sunshine, we went up and down in the plane. Teaching students how to skydive and take adventure enthusiasts on a tandem jump. It's our job to make you happy. Getting plenty of positive feedback from my guests and students this week…

SOME MOTHER’S DAY MEMORIES HURT My Moma died the day after Christmas in 2019. I worked at the hospital, the only one in the office that day. I received a phone call from the nursing home that she was sick that morning, vomiting and they had called the ambulance to…

I had 50 painfully uncomfortable conversations with strangers to practice being assertive under pressure. Here’s what I learned. — I’m sitting alone in a coffee shop in Manhattan and I’m about to become the most disliked person in the room. First, I’m going to interrupt the man reading quietly near the window and ask for a sip of his latte. Next, I’m going to ask the line of people…

What I learned from a dog who was a whole lot smarter than me — I got my first dog as an adult in the summer of 1988. I was twenty-six years old and my husband and I had just purchased our first house. It was a tiny, 700-square-foot bungalow on an oversized lot — a lot so large you could have built two more…

It took perseverance, but my daughter achieved a major goal — Many times I’ve been alone And many times I’ve cried Anyway, you’ll never know The many ways I’ve tried And still they lead me back To the long winding road — “The Long and Winding Road” by The Beatles My daughter runs cross country and track for Mt. SAC Community…

It’s never easy to say goodbye — We lost a great guy yesterday — a good friend. Steve was immensely popular amongst our group of friends. All of us are terribly sad. There’s a big, empty place now that will take a long time to fill in. It will fill in, of course. It’s the way of…

photo by author Maui honeymoon Hey friends, As I continue my series of most joyful moments in life next up is memories about my Maui, Hawaii honeymoon. It’s funny because it started with a bit of trouble, but the energy of the place was so great that the negative is just another…

Give yourself permission to let go of something you’ve loved — I once found a squirrel in a bin in Washington, D.C. OK, that’s a bad example of a travel story. Thankfully, I’ve got a bunch more. I started a travel blog in 2017 to document my travels around the world. In 2023, I shut it down for good. Here’s why…

The creatures that inhabit the garden — I’m already seeing bees in the garden, which I am excited about. It’s so nice to see life and growth despite the fact that I essentially live in a concrete jungle. Low-income neighborhoods aren’t usually known for their beauty, and so people must create their own. The life of the…

I’m an unlikely mother of multitudes — I was born a poor, Asian child. Sorry, that was inappropriate. I’m neither Asian nor a Steve Martin character. Let me start again. I was born in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Ken, Japan, on a US Naval Base. I’m white. It was the early 1980’s, and at the time of my birth…

Wattpad! — I know how it feels. That itchy feeling when you think of writing a fiction story. In spite of all the pressure, you can feel that excitement in your bones. Almost every writer has thought of writing a fiction novel at least once in his/her writing career. Some don’t find…