Family & Friends | Women's Voices For Change

Memorial Day: A Day To Remember Those Who Died In Active Military Service and Those Left Traumatized

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

There are those of us who mourn those who returned to lives that were never fully lived due to post traumatic stress.These men, in their 80s and 90s, still talked about the recurring nightmares, the unexpected flashbacks, the isolation that they had endured after the war was over.

Emotional Health · Family & Friends

Being A Mother — The Role of A Lifetime

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Motherhood causes a shift in identity that may occur suddenly, but remains stubbornly in place ever after.

Emotional Health · Family & Friends

Adult Children and Stepmothers: Cinderella 2.0?

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Elderly men are easy targets for schemers, both in relationships and in business. But they are particularly vulnerable to caretaking women. On the other hand, while the fairy-tale-version stepmother has enormous power, in real life she often feels as if she has none.

Family & Friends

Love In All Contexts: My Two Aunt Mims

By Susan Lapinski

“Every day I spent with her was Valentine’s Day. I wish every girl could have an Aunt Mim in her life. I was lucky enough to have two in mine.”

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Valentine’s Day: For Granny, My First Love

By Toni Myers

Granny’s unconditional love was life-affirming. She was on my side. She was my first love. We never broke up; I was never disappointed by her, and she approved of me no matter what I did.

Family & Friends · Film & Television

Kathleen Collins — A Daughter Keeps Her Mother’s Artistic Legacy Alive

By Nina Collins

As I neared the age my mother was when she died, forty-six, I found myself finally ready to grapple with the themes that consumed her. I started to dig through the considerable archive of work she left behind. What I found blew me away.

Emotional Health · Family & Friends

Sisters for Life: Common Problems That Persist Into Adulthood

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Siblings are our longest-lived and often among the most complex relationships. No matter how old we are, the template of our early family stays with us throughout our lifetime.

Family & Friends

New Year’s Resolutions: 2016 and 2017

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

I am clearly in the minority of Americans (8 percent) who made a resolution and kept it in 2016 (though readers do know that I never learned to twerk or pole dance as resolved in years past).

Family & Friends

The Worst New Year’s Eve Ever

By Stacia Friedman

I have no memory of what Janie and I did before midnight, but I will never forget where we were when the clock struck twelve.

Emotional Health · Family & Friends

The Wednesday Five

By Women's Voices For Change

This year, several of our most popular articles addressed emotional issues within family relationships for which many of our readers who are spouses, partners, parents, and grandparents sought advice.

Family & Friends

A Christmas Gift From My Father

By Judie Rae

Today I look back with fondness on those Christmas displays my father spent so much time perfecting, though I can recall with astounding clarity that at the time I was mortified by the entire proceedings.

Family & Friends

Comfort and Joy: The Magic of an Old-Fashioned Christmas Eve

By Larysa Bemko

Hazelnut Viennese cakes, two kinds of pierogi, a 12-course Christmas Eve meal, midnight mass, kutia on the ceiling (and many other beloved traditions)—this Ukrainian/not-yet-American family Celebrated Christmas with a capital C.