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Raised on Ritalin

by tyler page

Raised on Ritalin is kind of like an episode of This American Life in comic format. At age 8 in 1985, I was among the first generation of kids diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Ritalin. I would go on to take it almost every day for 8 years until it seemed like I had ‘outgrown’ my ADD. I didn’t give it much thought until I began having trouble again as a young adult as I started a career and a family. My daughter is very much like I was as a child. What happens if she has the same problems at ... more

When Life Hands You Lemons, Check For Lymes

by Phil Gerigscott

As Phil graduates college, gets married, and travels the world, he should have every reason to feel invincible. Instead, a mysterious and chronic illness leaves Phil feeling like a crotchety old man griping the days away. Phil and his partner Emma are left wondering what the heck they should do.

Amazing Adventures With Dev

by Melody L Boulton

Have you experienced the deep loss of a precious loved one — your son, your daughter? My son, Devon, left this earth Good Friday, 3/29/2013. He was 23 years old. Dev and I have always had a deep and mysterious connection. Our relationship continues on beyond his physical life and manifests in joyful, loving, and extraordinary experiences. Our story will give you the opportunity to engage with a powerful spiritual journey while also getting to know Dev as he was in earthly life. Amazing A... more

Slave to the Dream

by Gaylan D. Wright

I begin my adventure in the third grade where I first rebelled against the system. My teacher said no to a bathroom trip so I went in my pants. I move through school and describe my observations of bullying, drug use and an un-planned pgrenancy. In the seventies there were school shootings too. I joined the military and report how it all goes. Reading it myself, it seems like a movie.

UNSCHOOLED

by Lisa Smith

Drunken school teacher + an elite NYC private school = a disaster. On 9.11.01, Lisa faced her first day in the classroom. An addict since 12—the same age as her students—Lisa’s deep descent into the party scene escalated. By day, an attractive, well-dressed instructor; by night a slutty alcoholic, cokehead—for over a decade. Wasted in class. High at prom. Showing up to school with a black eye from partying. Dreams of inspiring children turned to nightmares. This is Lisa’s memory of her degenerat... more

Plrknib

by Alex Bernstein

In "Plrknib" Alex Bernstein takes the I'm with the Band vibe from "Almost Famous" and flips it into I'm with the Comics. The author of "Miserable Holiday Stories" brings you back to 1980 to tell a coming-of-age story set in the breakneck world of stand-up comedy. At 16, Bernstein became the youngest regular at Cincinnati’s premiere comedy club, d.w. eye. But as the pressure to keep up with the older comics grew, he looked for something – some edge – to help him compete. And then he found one: "P... more

Dear Woman of My Dreams

by Lois Herr

Dear Woman of My Dreams is Kathryn's 1923 diary, covering her nineteenth year. This coming-of-age story is told in her own words as she goes about her daily life at college with her friends and with her mother and grandmother at home. She writes to the woman that she sees as herself in later years, and the book closes with a brief chapter based on letters and the diary Kathryn wrote when she was one hundred years old. All this has been creatively edited by her daughter to include enough material... more

Hang Your Wraps in the Cloak Room! Growing Up Catholic in the 'Forties

by James M. O'Brien, Ph. D

In l940, the nation hovers on the brink of World War II, and a small and fearful six-year-old trembles on the brink of first grade at St. Mary's School, Elgin. He will find himself plunged into a world of mystery, guided by white-robed nuns who speak a mysterious language and live in a separate world from ordinary people. He will become steeped in the liturgy and language of the Catholic Church as it presented itself at the time, and come to feel set apart from the non-Catholics and special, but... more

Two Years Journey: The Rise from Leukemia and Aneurysm to the Opportunity of a Lifetime

by Derrick R. Harding

On February 16, 2014, a fellow elder quietly prayed for me: ?Lord, give my brother a new bone marrow.? The next day, a Hematologist diagnosed that I had a bone marrow disease. This unbelievable news with no obvious sign or symptom was true. I had an aggressive acute Leukemia. Graphically, the Lord assured me, three times that I would be healed and the disease would not return (Nahum 1, 9). Acting proactively, the Hematologist scheduled my admission into a Florida hospital. Subsequently, a skille... more

Now I Can Think Myself to Mars

by Grace Hournbuckle Walker

When Grace Hournbuckle Walker talked for the last time with her eight-year-old son, Nathan, he shared his joyful hope and anticipation of his future in heaven with Jesus. That unforgettable exchange inspired Grace to create poetry and letters capturing elements of that conversation and the foundation of trust in God shared by mother and son. Now I Can Think Myself to Mars: A Son?s Final Goodbye, A Mother?s Journal of Renewal collects those writings and bridges the decades between that conversati... more

Fort Chastity, Vietnam, 1969

by Bernadette J. Harrod, RN

It was 1969 and the war in Vietnam was at its height. At the time, author Bernadette J. Harrod was twenty-four years old and a full-fledged operating room nurse. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy, she volunteered her services and became a member of the Army Nurse Corps stationed on the front lines at Phu Bai, Vietnam, a forward base camp in the demilitarized zone. In Fort Chastity, Vietnam, 1969, she shares her story of what nursing was like in a combat zone, standing covered in mud and bl... more

HERE WE ARE & THERE WE GO: Teaching and Traveling With Kids in Tow

by JILL DOBBE

A heartwarming travel memoir filled with temper tantrums, disorienting jet lag, and zany, once-in-a-lifetime family adventures. Who says you can't travel with kids? Dan and I find out we can do just that as we set off with our two very young kids, first to live and work on an island far out in the Pacific, then on to the continent of Africa with a few stops in between. Armed with strollers, diapers, and too much luggage, we travel to over twenty-five countries throughout a ten year span, while w... more

KIDS, CAMELS, & CAIRO

by JILL DOBBE

Traveling across the globe to work in an international school in Cairo, Egypt, was not exactly the glamorous lifestyle I thought it would be. I cherished my travels to the Red Sea, delighted in visiting the Pyramids, and appreciated the natural wonders of the Nile River. However, I also spent days without electricity or internet, was leered at by rude Egyptian men, breathed in Cairo’s cancerous black smog, and coaxed school work from rich, apathetic students.

Why the he... more

Fifty-Five Rides and Morocco Too

by David Shwaiko

The author loved to hitchhike. The seventies were hitchhiking?s golden age. From 1970 to 1976, by himself and with three different partners, he hitchhiked literally thousands of miles. He just totaled it up. Including all the short US hitches and the three long ones, the two long Canadian hitches, and the European hitches, it totals out to about twenty-seven thousand miles. That?s longer than the circumference of our beloved planet Earth. Mostly in the early years, he hitchhiked with his best fr... more

A Special Heart

by Judy Zimlichman

Judy Zimlichman's third child, Chaim, was born with Williams syndrome, and over the past thirty-nine years, she?s helped him conquer challenges and enjoy special times. While Chaim may face intellectual and physical challenges, he loves people?and they love him back. In sharing how she helped her son enjoy life to the fullest, the author provides encouragement and a roadmap for all families that have a loved one with special needs. She is convinced that, as a parent, you must be fierce advocate ... more

Growing Old With Grace

by Ramakrishna Michaels

In a perfect world the musically gifted Ramakrishna would have grown up to become a concert pianist. However, his complicated, emotionally incestuous relationship with his mother, and a largely absentee father set the stage for a life that played out quite differently. He quit playing the piano his freshman year in college and instead became the ultimate gay party boy. For seventeen years he was consumed by a life fueled by copious amounts of drugs and sex.

When he finally hit bottom in... more

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