Dear Ashley,
Today marks the beginning of my thirteenth year on this planet without you, the thirteenth year that the gaping hole of where you should be in my life screams out a reminder to my brain and my heart.
When we were kids, I never imagined that you wouldn’t be around for our adulthood together. It was incomprehensible to me when that thought first crossed my mind a few months after your death. It was like trying to wrap my mind around the concept of infinity. This first up-close experience with the loss of someone close to me, someone whom I had mapped out well into my future self’s life – it did not make any coherent sense. I took it for granted that you would be here.
Every October 19th, I’m transported back to the moment when my mother called me at college and told me...
Lifestyle
Dear Adolescence,
I spent years waiting for you. Even as my daughter suckled at my breast, or slipped her warm little hand in mine as we crossed the street, I knew she was under your curse. I'd heard you mutter it when she was born. I knew that even if I dedicated my entire life to burning every single spinning wheel in every single galaxy, you, Adolescence, would still find her and claim her. And not on her sixteenth birthday, either. I would be lucky to get twelve, thirteen years before you snatched her from me.
At first, it was easy to ignore you, what with diapers and spit-up and all. And then daycare and grade school and bag lunches and dance lessons and softball and sore throats. But I never forgot about you. How could I? My own adolescence rang in my head. "Your life is...
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Dear NHS,
My name is Chazz, and I'm a 24-year-old mother of one living in Wales. I've suffered from depression and anxiety since before I was a teenager, brought upon by the sudden death of my father.
At the time of his death, I was nine, and didn't know how to process what had happened. I wasn't old enough to understand that I was depressed, but for three months, I hardly left my room. I didn't want to talk to anyone, or see anyone, because I didn't want to be reminded of the fact that he wasn't there. In the bubble of my room, nothing changed, and I could exist - not live, just exist.
When my mother and I moved from England to Wales just before starting secondary school, everyone thought of me as an outsider, so I started getting bullied. It made me feel even more depressed, so...
2,480
Dear Ava,
Six years ago, your dad and I had one of our most memorable arguments.
We struggled with the decision to send you to kindergarten. You’d just turned five and separation anxiety was the name of your game.
I wanted to delay your start another year until you felt more secure; your dad stressed that you should enroll because you were ready. Guess who won?
Now I’m writing as you wrap up your time in elementary school. In a few months (weeks, really), you’ll be in what your dad and I called “junior high.”
This is the place where you’ll learn more about others than you will in college. That’s where you’ll go to learn about yourself. These next few years are going to be the hardest — for you, as you work through situations that make no sense — and for us, as we work...
2,299
Dear child,
You might have heard the society talk about me. You might have heard about my passive-aggressive behavior. You might have watched the television soap-operas where I am portrayed as intrusive, unfair and notoriously adamant.
I am the Indian Mother in law.
But before you judge me any further, please hear my story!
I was a daughter-in-law too, married when I was barely 20. Tiny little pleasures like going on an evening walk with my husband, shopping my favorite stuff, wearing whatever I like, public display of affection from my husband, were denied to me.
Elder’s word was the law in my days. Sacrifice came coupled with marriage. I never had the satisfaction of spending a good amount of time with my own parents and siblings after my wedding day. I have sacrificed my...
2,512
Dear pre-baby body,
I don’t remember what you feel like. It’s been too long since you’ve been around to wear my “skinny” jeans. It’s summer and I miss throwing on a bikini on without a second thought. Instead, I’m searching for tankinis with underwire support and maximum coverage. Sometimes I feel like you never existed. Did I dream you?
I wonder if you’d recognize me with my new post-baby-making (and currently-baby-growing) #mombod. We’ve been through a lot. I’m talking stretch marks, extra padding, and post-nursing-now-pregnant-and-confused-boobs. This body is new; it’s one I’ve only had for two years, so it’s hard to even recognize myself sometimes.
Three years ago, this body was all “let me flash my toned arms and shoulders as much as possible” at my wedding. And yesterday,...
2,396
Dear Mr. Costolo,
I just got off the phone with my son, Ryan Sartor, and he is quite upset with Twitter.
After receiving a note from one man, telling him to “Shut up,” Ryan was sent yet another insulting message, calling him a “misogynist” because he likes a Kanye West CD.
What kind of business are you running? My son is an aspiring writer. Having these kinds of interactions with complete strangers is doing terrible things for his self-esteem.
I don’t believe in censoring people, and I know that this is a free country, but these two characters have never even met my son. They’re bullying him just because you have given them a platform to do so.
I tried to get on a computer and find the names of these two young men, but my son told me to “stay out of it!” in a really loud...
5,186
Dear Sir,
PETITION AND MATTERS ARISING PART 1
I deeply regret that it has to come to this. My regrets stems from the fact that since August, 2013 when I first wrote to you and you called me back I was full of admiration for you and the magnanimity you showed me. I thought you were that kind of leader who listens and we could work together to better serve mother Ghana. In that letter I warned you about some legal issues you might face if you don’t wait for all the parts of the Local Government System to come into being or fully mature. I was not taken serious because as usual of Ghanaian leaders “I am nobody to advise you”.
As I said to you before, I got to know you when I was undertaking a GIMPA certificate course in Tamale at the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS)....
2,563
Dear BM,
I Am Angry, I have been the one stuck doing everything for my 10 year old stepdaughter since July of 2006. I have sacrificed so much and have done everything with her from her first pageant, day at dance, school, etc. The only first you truly have had with my stepdaughter is her first year of life. Do you ever sit and think to yourself how selfish you truly are? Do you even realize the damage you have done not just to my stepdaughter, but to your other children and family members? Do you continue to sit and blame my husband and me for your absence in my step daughter’s life? Is it an easier way to explain to others why she is not around? Does it make you feel better to lie to everyone? Let’s get something straight we took you to court for a reason.
We gave you many...
8,630
Dear Mr. Hanke,
You probably do not remember me, but I remember meeting you. It was your second or third day on the job as the top executive of the General Commission on United Methodist Men and you attended a dinner for the General Boards and Agencies of the UMC alongside Vanderbilt Divinity School students. We sat next to each other. We shared a meal and had meaningful conversation. I went to your UMM booth and we talked more, I received some information about UMM, and you assured me that the United Methodist Men is a ministry for ALL men. As you did so, it felt like you were staring at my Reconciling Ministries Network lapel pin.
Your words were comforting to me. As someone who serves a local church that does not have an active United Methodist Men chapter (but a very active United...
2,327