Family can be such a joy one moment and then be a source of contention the next. One minute you feel so blessed to have them and in another minute because of what someone says or does, one can feel so shut down by the very family they feel blessed...

On a whim, I typed my great-great-grandfather’s name and “Ireland” into the internet search bar. Turns out there are innumerable Patrick McDonalds from Ireland, so I refined my search by adding “Ohio” and the approximate date that he immigrated to...

I tried to sleep on the narrow bench, eight months pregnant, scared and drained, as I held my baby's hand through the bars of her crib at the government hospital overseas. The nurse had poked her far too many times, trying to find a vein for the I...

About fourteen years ago, our oldest daughter noticed that our dining room table seated six chairs, but our family only filled five chairs. She thought all the chairs should be filled evenly with three girls and three boys. So every night she pray...