At 20, when I became a mom, I had a very distinct picture in my mind of what a family should look like and what the mom/dad role should be. At 23, when I became a single mom, I had to let go of that picture. It took me a lot of years, though, to be okay with the new vi...

My life is a great tale of many fantastic journeys filled with wonderful memories of a very loving and wise Mother, 2 elder sisters, and 5 of the most fantastic brothers a younger sister could ask for.

My brothers steered me in the right direction in life in so many a...

Next to my parents, the most influential people in my life were athletic coaches. Both made it perfectly clear I was responsible for my actions.

Not once in all my years did I hear them say the word “accountable.” But looking back, they used more synonyms than I could...

One of the most powerful relationships on the planet is a dad and his daughter, despite the cultural attempt to diminish a father's influence. Children are unfiltered sponges ... soaking in every word from their parents, coaches, teachers, and culture: positive or nega...

God created Dad's to be the head of the household and to lead their families by example, and my Daddy certainly did that for me and my four siblings. The positive impact he had on my life, and their's, is so great that words cannot possible do it justice. My Daddy was...

Have you ever said something without realizing the consequences of who it might affect? Your intent of saying something was never meant to be disrespectful or hurtful to anyone; however, sometimes this happens – especially in the thrills of competition. The competition...

My biological father, Edwin, grew up in Nicaragua. His father was the type of man who had many children with many women, which meant he didn’t have his father to teach him valuable lessons such as marital love and commitment. When he became a teenager the Iran-Contra w...

In January 2016 I was deployed to Kuwait with the United States Air Force Reserve. This was one of the most challenging times of my life. I was so far from my family and friends. I also was unsuccessful at finding a job in the United States.

I worked the night shift w...

In the United States of America, nearly 73% of African-Americans are born to single mothers. These mothers should be applauded for loving their children, and empathy is extended for those mothers who are rearing their children on their own. In my case, I am blessed to...

As a father of two young adults, a 20 year old daughter and a 19 year old son, I've seen the incredible value in time with your family while they're young. A long time ago I remember hearing that kids don't spell love based on things that you can give them, kids spell...

Whenever he spoke, it was with a gentle voice. Even when he chastises me, his voice was soft most of the time. He was never harsh to me.
One day, he came home sad. The lorry he used to support his rental business had been stolen. It was driven away in the mechanic’s wo...

My early childhood years were turbulent. A broken family, a custody war, to say the least, an unstable start in life. My father and I were both broken, unsure, unsettled, and left to navigate a new life, him as a single father, and myself as a child feeling like a toss...

I had a dream that I died and went to heaven. I died in a snowstorm preparing a team to climb Everest in Minnesota. My dream transitioned to opening a huge door being welcomed by the Lion of Judah. He began to tell a parable that at the time I didn’t get to hear but I...

Sometimes the best father figure is someone that God brings into your life that isn’t related by blood. It might even be the last person that you would think of. When I was in high school, my mother worked several jobs and my father was not available very often. I was...

If I haven’t been to the gym in a long time, I dread going back. 

I know that every part of my body will hurt after that first day. I’m supremely uncomfortable, and nothing within me wants to return to the gym because I know it’ll hurt even more. 

After the first, se...

It was sometime in the mid to late fifties— that idyllic time between the Korean War and the turbulent sixties. I was in the barn on our farm home in Southeast Missouri with my father. He was trying to milk a cow whose calf was stillborn and whose udder was swelling pa...

I never learned to use cookbooks. I own several and rarely crack one open. But I do like the pictures. I admire people who can work from these recipe collections. I learned my culinary skills from my first-generation Sicilian father. 
 

In our home, my mother worked and...

Growing up, my Dad has always been there for me. With every big dream I've had he's been there to support me and encourage me in any way possible. 
 

I always thought that my parent's were the strongest people in the world. My Dad especially, who I would help out in the...