Stories

Take a Peek Inside Our Wonderful World of Stories
An old woman smiles encouragingly at the camera.

Happiness Is Not a Place

My mother died last summer. She was 91. This quote is from her book about a young girl happily living on a Kentucky farm with her extended family until poverty forces her and her parents

Read More
Rocking chairs on a porch in the sun

The Courage to Age

My mother frequently narrated her aging experience. She remarked about having “good days” and “bad days” and how there were fewer “good days” the older she became.

Read More
Woman working at a computer with a coffee cup near a window

One Day You Will Look Back

This quote has helped me trust that a flower’s journey from seed to blooming is also true for me (and other people, too).

It’s easy to admire a flower and forget that it was once a…

Read More
Walking Test Post

Epitaph for the Race of Man

I am 79, in need of repair, much like the rest of the country, and it seems to me that in the last twenty years the arc of history has definitely turned downward. The horrors…

Read More
Still I Rise, woman with lifted fist

But still, like dust, I rise.

This poem taught me that word bits combined with rhythm can get us through the toughest times. The speaker creates memorable phrases through the use of commas: “But still, like dust, I rise,”…

Read More
Tree leaves

Catch and Release

Scholastic book order day in Mrs. Rader’s sixth-grade English class was my favorite. Once, I thumbed through the newsprint leaflet and selected a poetry anthology called Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle.

Read More

List of Stories by Category