Raised by my Father by Karen Hill AntonI was nineteen and in Europe when the tenement apartment I’d grown up in burned down.
City of Seven Hills by Chris ParentWe open the door to my mother’s car, an Audi 5000, perched precariously on the side of one of Yonkers’ steep hills
Sowing Seeds in Fields of Dreams by Sara Etgen BakerWe stood outside the dilapidated picket fence and shaded our eyes, casting our gazes across the grassy pasture of old man Buhler’s farmland.
Climbing Jacob's Ladder by Michael De RosaClimbing Jacob's Ladder is a half-forgotten idiom for the ascent to heaven or a path out of adversity.
Ghosts by Glen SibleyWe didn’t fit in where I grew up. Unlike all our neighbours, my parents were cash poor and worked in manual jobs.
Granny in my Backyard by Brian Rush McDonald Our home was in a rural area on seven acres of land, one acre of it cleared for our yard.
Cast Out of the Boys’ Club by Susan EvansYou’re not in the club anymore,” Jimmy decreed on the first day of fifth grade. Surely, he was joking. He had to be joking.
Walks with my Father by Michael de RosaWith my younger sister always vying for our parents’ attention and affection, the walks I took with my father to visit friends and customers
lil sis & BIG BRO by Michael De RosaMy sister, Nancy, was my first playmate and is my oldest friend. We are the only ones left that remember us as children.
At the Gates of Hell and of Heaven by Karen HuntI decided early on that the world was a terrible place. Oh yes, it was beautiful, marvelous and mysterious, but it was also terrible.
Residence by Katharine HarveySome of my Mom’s belongings migrated to the new place and as years passed, I discovered what she left behind.
Mom's Trump Card by Rick WhitakerI asked my mom why Butch despised me--was it just because I was gay? No, Mom said, there’s more to it than that
Sock Monkeys and Dancing Hippos by Brandon BurkeAnyone alive in the 70s will remember stuffed monkeys made from tube socks
Christmas, Elsewhere by Heather GatleyIt was 1963. A blizzard blew across the grass outside the married quarters where we lived in RAF St Athan.
The Apartment Menagerie by James BloomThe first among all their creatures to be acquired, and ever primus inter pares in his father’s affections, was Bird, the Burrowing Owl
Aunt Jean by Tracy Kauffman WoodAunt Jean would read popular psychology books on the #50 trolley as it bounced down Fourth Street in fits and starts toward Passyunk Avenue.
Homemade Halloween by Auriel RoeWe’d hollow out rock hard swedes with sharp knives. When we lit the stump of a candle inside them, the smell of singed swede was beguiling.
Migrants by Sam LetourneauIn 1975, my family emigrated from England to Australia. I escaped from a cold, dank, inner-city London to the bright sunshine of Perth.
Out of the Picture by Charles HaraMay 3rd, 1971. We're having a party. I’m six years old, and my parents still speak to one another.