Sky Allen McSpadden proudly served in the United States Navy for nine years, based in Jacksonville, Florida. For five of those years, he was stationed aboard the USS Halyburton, a period of service that took him across the world — to places like Greece, Spain, … Continue readingMom honors Navy son’s service
“My parents got divorced when I was about 4 years old. My dad moved to Northwest Houston, but I got to see him a lot. We’d do the weekend thing, and he came to all my games and events. “When I got my first house, … Continue readingOnly son savors time with his parents
“When I was 11, my aunt told me that the man I always thought was my dad was not my real dad. I was devastated. I couldn’t believe that a family could hold secrets like that from me. “I went crazy. I remember screaming and … Continue readingNot knowing his dad leads to anger issues
“I worked for a while at the hospital as a CNA [certified nursing assistant]. When I had my youngest son, I started staying home. I was working 12-hour shifts. But I decided that him being successful was more important. I wanted to make sure he … Continue readingMom intent on son being successful
“I see the question all the time: what do you want to be when you grow up? But I tell my son, that’s the wrong question. It should be: what do you want to be now? Your mind is going to keep changing as you … Continue readingYoung writer gets lots of encouragement from dad
“My dad is from a family of 12 in Matamoros, Mexico. There were six women and six men. But my grandpa would always bring my father to go cut grass, track cows, trench out ditches — anything that had to do with the ranch. Sun … Continue readingSon proud of family work ethic
“Not married. I have one son. He’s 6. It’s great. It’s a life-changing experience. “I’m trying not to force too much of the world on him right now. I don’t want him to be worried about all the stuff we have to worry about as … Continue reading‘I like kids to actually be kids’
(2 of 5) “The police knocked on my door to tell me that my sister had been murdered and that they were looking for my nephew. They didn’t say he had done it. I was devastated. All I knew was that my sister was dead … Continue readingShe fights in aftermath of sister’s death
“I was 26 years old. It was my first pregnancy. I was healthy. I was athletic. Then it just happened. They told me, ‘Your cervix is gone.’ I had what’s called an incompetent cervix. It can lead to premature birth or losing your baby. “They … Continue readingPoetry emerges from heartbreaking loss
“All of our kids have kind of been accidents. Our first one, we were still sort of dating when I accidentally got pregnant. We were like, well, are we ready to go through with this and do the whole shebang? We decided to see if … Continue readingWith third son, they knew ‘something’s really wrong’