We don’t go out as much as we used to. We’re slow now—he with his knees and me with my back—so it’s just easier to eat at home most nights. Not that we don’t want to. Ernest did say he wanted steak last week, though. He said, “Real steak.” “With wine.” Use cloth napkins. “No TV.” When we took our kids there, it had changed hands at least three times since we last went there. So we went to that old place by the bowling alley. It was dark and quiet. He asked for a cabernet. It was the same…
Author: World Wide
I wasn’t trying to say anything. To be honest, it began as a dare. During lunch, my friend Mason and I talked about how people don’t really see people on the street anymore. You might walk by a man holding a sign and not even notice his face. People don’t pay attention when he says “God bless” or asks for help. I asked, “What if someone did the opposite?” I held a wooden sign that said “I have a home” on the corner of 12th and Garland because of this. I own a car. I have a job. Could I…
People think little girls dream about weddings. I didn’t. I dreamed about my grandpa’s old pickup, the one with the broken radio and the seatbelt that never quite clicked right. I dreamed about afternoons in his garden, both of us covered in dirt, him humming some old country tune while I made up stories about the worms. He raised me. Not because he had to—but because he wanted to. When he got sick, I overheard the doctors talking. “Maybe a few weeks,” one of them said. I pretended not to understand, but I did. So I asked him, “What’s something…
Elena’s teacher handed me a stack of her drawings at pickup. “She’s been working hard,” she said, with this warm little smile, like she knew something I didn’t. I thanked her, shoved the papers into my tote bag, and didn’t think much of it—honestly, I was in a rush to get dinner started before her dad got home. But after bedtime, once the house was finally quiet, I sat down and pulled them out. The first one was just hearts. Dozens and dozens, big and small, spilling off the page like they couldn’t fit inside the lines. On the back,…
In a small Michigan town, Owen Burns, 13, became a hero when he stepped in to protect his younger sister from a scary situation with a stranger. Owen was the first person in this brave story. He had just come home from school. He was excited to relax and play video games, which was something he and many other boys his age really liked. Owen’s 8-year-old sister was playing in the garden at the same time. Her excitement made her go outside to look for mushrooms near the woods. While the kids were having fun in the garden during the…
President Trump had to cut down on what he said at a press meeting on Friday because White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ended it quickly. At the same time as the event, Dr. Mehmet Oz, a TV host who was named to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) during Trump’s second term, was sworn in. As the briefing was coming to an end, the stream stopped all of a sudden, and the screen went black. FOX News says that one of Dr. Oz’s children had to be led out of the Oval Office because of a…
Part 1 of 6: The Quiet Victory and the Quiet Threat I’m not a petty person. Petty doesn’t fit into my schedule. Between raising three kids and working full‑time, I’ve never had the luxury of lingering over slights or plotting revenge. But when someone threatens the roof over my children’s heads—just because I finally caught a break—that’s when petty turns into strategy. I’m Anna Calder. I’m 36, a single mom with three bright, messy miracles: Liam, eleven; Maya, seven; and Atlas, four. My day begins at 5 AM, bleary‑eyed but determined. I juggle cereal, backpack straps, and coffee the consistency…
A small old woman was strolling down the street while pulling two big plastic trash bags behind her. A $20 bill would sometimes fall out of one of the bags and land on the ground. A police officer saw this and stopped her, telling her, “Ma’am, $20 bills are falling out of that bag.” “Really?” “Damn it!” the old woman said. “I should try to find them again.” Thanks for telling me, officer. The officer said, “Now, don’t move so quickly.” “Where did all that cash come from?” I don’t think you stole it. The old woman said, “Oh, no,…
Few subjects in the great ocean of social media material, memes, and viral posts fascinate people as much as fast, eye-catching “personality tests.” You may have gone through your page, found an image with concentric circles, and read a bold assertion: “The Number of Circles You See Determines If You’re a Narcissist.” Maybe you, paused to count the circles or even told others about it to gauge their responses. Whatever the situation, this specific meme plays on a strong and timeless human need: the want to know ourselves and maybe to know others as well. A straightforward picture claiming to…
