After their mother was arrested and deported to Nogales, Mexico, the Marin children became wards of the state, forced to split up and live in separate homes in an overwhelmed and underfunded foster care system. Their story is just one example of the roughly half a million U.S.-born children who’ve lost a parent to arrest, […]
families
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
Between Mom and Stepmom
Sarah Menkedick reflects on the very different—and complementary—ways in which her mother and her stepmother have nurtured her.
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Family’s Slave
Alex Tizon tells the story of his family’s slave, Lola. A utusan (“person who takes commands”), Lola was given as a gift from his grandfather to his mother in 1943, when Lola was 18 years old. Lola worked — unpaid — for Alex and his family for 56 years. In a turbulent childhood where his […]
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Member Pick, Nonfiction, Story
It Was Like Nothing Else in My Life Up to Now
In searching for meaning behind a random encounter and his mother’s death, Josh Roiland explores compassion.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
There Once Was a Dildo in Nantucket
The curious quest to trace the history of a sex toy found in a 19th-century Quaker family home.