You be missed when your gone by Airrion Styles

I have an older brother whom is dying from Aids. He got Aids from his lover who died two years ago. My brother
have been dealing with this for along time. He had took care of his lover till the day he died. He said that that was the hardest

time of his life, watching someone you love so much die and he couldn't do anything about. He loved him more than life itself.

My brother is deal with the fact that he know he will die someday so with a smile on his face because he knew that he had loved.

At first they didn't want anyone to know about them having Aids but after time he open up to us . He went to our mothers houes

and called for all of us to come over to the house so he could tell us about it.he wanted all of us to be there so he could tell us

altogether. Now we all chip in together to help him out. I'm telling you all this to say you never know how much time you have in

life to tell someone how much you love them.

precious memories Phyllis Pinkins

I Have been blessed buy the best which is my Lord Jesus Savior The Only Wise True And Living God who is passed into the Heavens. Who gives me wisdom and Knowledge to take care of my 4 children Even until this very day .I was a young unwed Mother and didn"nt Know a thing about Mother Hood . My mother help me to take care of my first born daughter . I was only 14 years old when i had my daughter i was a baby having a baby . I used a life as a testimony to young people , Too stay in school and to obey your parents in the Lord Jesus for this right the Bible states for your for us to honor our Father and Mother that your days may be long upon this earth. I pride Myself on becoming a good Mother and a Good Freind,and a good daughter to my late Mother Lullabell who is with King Jesus Christ now.I still Have My father Here with Which is A Great Responsiblity in itself. I thank the Lord Jesus thur trails and truibulations in my life I have blessed to stay Strong . To my God Be the Glory for the Things he has done.

Pecious Moments by Angela McDade

 My weddings bands are my most precious assets or artifact. These rings are given to me by my ex-husband. Yes we are divorced, but remain close and good friends. In the time of marriage we were very in love. Still are... He knew I love hearts and white gold. So he bought me my dream set of rings. So I had a great man with the perfect set of rings to symbolizes our love. I'm glad I kept them beause I think they maybe used again one day. If not I will pass them to my kids.

Graduation By Taylor Reitz

When I walked up the stairs of my high school in my cap and gown, the typical graduation ceremony song filled my ears and a huge lump formed in my throat as I held back the tears. I felt sad that these four years of a Griffith Panther were behind me, but i was also very excited to start the new chapter of my life. I took my seat next to my fellow classmates and waited patiently through the speeches to receive my diploma.
Following the ceremony i enjoyed lunch at one of my favorite Italian restaurants with my family. While i was devouring my meal my grandma slipped me a card and whispered "Read it later." I didn't want to wait so i quickly broke the envelope seal and I noticed two-hundred and fifty dollars fell onto my lap when I started reading the note she had written me. It said " As you start this new chapter of your life always remember i am with you every step of the way and i support you in every way possible." The dry lump in my throat returned and tears rolled down my cheeks. I was happy she supported me with anything i did and i knew she was proud of me for graduating. "Thank You Grandma" i reassured. I wanted her to know how thankful i really was for her generous gift and for always being on my side.
.When i read the graduation card from her it reminds me how my grandma may not be here physically,because of her lost battle with lung cancer,but she is with me spiritually. I am reminded that she is very proud with every decision I make and i love how just reading an old graduation card can put a smile on my face and make my day so much better.

Someone special to me By;Monica Sallis

Someone that is very special to me is my grandmother. I love my grandmother more then anything because she took care of me like my mom did. If my mom didn't have it, I went to my grandma and she didn't have a problem with giving or dsoing anything for me. Other than my mom, my grandma is my inspiration as well. I could always just about talk to her about any and everything and she would listen, and then tell me what she thouht about the situation. She wasn't mean or being hard on me because i did everything for my grandma. When she called and asked me to come clean her house, I was right there and there wasn't nothing i wouldn't do for my grandma when she asked me. I remember everytime i seen her, she would be like "Hey lil' Girl," and all i would do is laugh and say hey grandma, "How you doing," and she will always say she doing fine when i know that it was something wrong but she kept a smile on her face at all times. These past couple of months has been real hard for me because im so use to calling my grandma to check on her and just to talk to her about certain situations, or going to clean her house for her. Once my grandma was real sick, I was by her side at every step of the way even when she went in the hospital, I rode with her in the ambulance. She was in the hospital for about a week and then she past on the 31st of March, while it was my sisters, my brother, my mom, auntie, my uncle, and I; once the nurse came in and said she was gone my heart stopped because at first she wasnt breathing then she started back, and stopped again for good. I didn't know what to do and I was sitting right beside the bed with her, I was hurt and had nothing to say. She has always told me "Lil girl, don't let nobody stop you from doing what you want in life and be whatever you want. I finally stop letting it get to me so much because i know i will always have my grandmother by my side through it all and i will still listen to whatever she tells me. I love my grandmother so much, she has made me what I am today and I'm glad I'm the way that I am because i listened to my grandma. She has told me a lot of useful information that I will continue to use in my everyday life

A day remember Steven Hobson

    I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. It was day of my openhouse on June 16, 2012. I still remember tall of the running around I had to do just to sure people were pleased and having a good time. That day of fun and good times is sure a day to remember. It was a day of seeing and assoiating with my friend and family and recieving gifts and money from them as well. As I recieved my gifts and money from everybody, their was one gift I found to be very interesting. Their isn't any unique background to it but I do find the gift itself to be unique. It was a Shamballa Bracelet. As it was given to me by my cousin Clint, I had told him "Thanks for the gift Clint but I'm not a big fan wearing expensive things." Clint then told me he understood and then said "Well, this isn't just for wearing and showing off." It's more more for helping you find and maintain peace and trainquility for when you find yourself stressed out or in a pinch." At the time I never thought anything of it because I still had it in my mind on not wearing it and to just keep it hidden from the outside. Since that day occured I've just been keeping it safe and hidden due to the fact that I don't enjoy wearing many things that hold much value.Although every now and again I still take out my Shamballa Bracelet and look at it to reflect on good memories to keep myself at peace and from being streed.

Precious Memories by Alexis Hunter

  Precious memories are everything to me. I have a lot of things that were given to me by others, and I hold on to them because although the person might not always be around, I know that the memories will last forever. I have a lot of things that bring back memories, but there’s one thing that mean the most to me. The one thing that is very special to me is a quilt that I got from my great grandmother. The quilt was full of different colors and patterns that she liked. It is very special to me because she made the quilt a few weeks before she passed away. It reminds me of her and every moment we spent together. When I see the quilt I get sad, but I also smile because I know that by me holding on to it, a part of her is still with me today. She will forever be in my heart and her quilt will forever be in my hands. I plan to always take good care of the quilt, because I know that if she was here, she would do the same. Memories are forever and so is my love for her.

Strength by David Twardowski

One night when I was about 5 to 6 years old, I was watching a movie called "Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars." During this movie, i was sitting on top of the back end of a couch. I was rocking back and forth on this couch carefully so I wouldn't fall off. But suddenly I felt a jerk from the couch and I started to tumble forward. As i was falling, my mother noticed me and kicked the couch forward. She thought that I was falling to the side so she kicked the coffee table in front of me farther away. But I somehow flew towards it and cracked my nose really hard on the edge of it. I was taken to the hospital where the doctor stitched my nose back before it broke. After my stitching, I walked out with tears streaming down my face as I was horrified of needles. My mom and dad said to me after I got back out "You did very well in there. We're proud of you." I felt somewhat better after this and started to go home. On the way back home, my mom and dad thought it would be a good idea to get me something for being so good in the doctor's room. We went inside a toy store and went over to the stuffed animals part and looked through all the rabbits. One cought my attention and I pointed to the one I liked the most. They then took it over to the counter and bought it for me. He was a fluffy white rabbit with a adorable puffy tail. I loved rabbits very much and feel in love with it immedieatly. I named him "Mr. Buns" as a suggestion from my parents. I would have no idea what I would do without him. He makes me feel so much better when I'm not feeling well.

Becoming An Adult By Christopher Sons

I became a new husband, new father , and served my country all before the age of 20. Right out of high school I enlisted into the U.S. Army. After basic training and advanced individual training, I came home and married my high school sweetheart. We then found out my active duty station was in Honolulu Hawaii. About 11 months later I became a father for the first time to my beautiful daughter Corinne, who is now 22. Though my life didn't start exactly as I may have planned, I am now 42, a small business owner, added 4 more beautiful children to the football team and have a person that actually cares about me. At this time in my life I couldn't be happier.

Gradration by Jsamine Johnson

About a year ago, when I was a junior in high school, my dad came to me and he said, “We moving next month.” I was wondering what I was going to do. I’m going into my last year with all of the people I grown up with since I was little. Then, my daddy told me we’re going to start over.  Then, I had to go to, “Theodore Roosevelt high school.” It was all new to me and I had to take tests before I can graduate. Some people in the school had told me, “You’re not going to graduate” and others encouraged me by saying, “you’re going to graduate.”  Next, I had stop and ask myself how bad do I want this? And will it be worth it? That’s when I give it my all and walked across that stage with my hand up high knowing its worth it all. The End is only the Beginning.

Kaitlyn Smith

A piece of my history that I will share is the Czechoslovakia flag. My grandma came to the United States at the age of 6 on a boat from where she was born in Czechoslovakia. She came to the U.S. with her parents and 4 other older sisters. Her parents came to the United States to find work and to have a better life. Growing up, my grandmother was very successful; she attended the University of Wisconsin and had majored in Business. When she turned 20 years old she had met a guy named Erwin. They had dated for a year and then had decided to get married at the age of 21. They had a traditional American wedding. As the years went by, they had 6 children together. Theresa was the 2^nd oldest of the 6 children. Theresa is my mom. Theresa had 6 children also later in life. This had led to me, being the 2nd oldest daughter of hers. Having a Czechoslovakian grandmother, she has many traditional recipes. My favorite one is called Kālu ski. It’s a dessert with jelly filling in the middle with a golden crunchy crust wrapped around it. Jelly differs between cherry, strawberry, or blueberry. Another traditional dessert is called Ruskies. It’s a nut roll with nuts around the center of it. In the center is a brown maple syrup that’s thickened.

Cooking on my grandma’s side of the family is very important. At family gatherings, we all enjoy getting together and sharing different dishes of Czechoslovakian food. I’m not sure how much Czech is in my blood, but I know I have a little. I love hearing stories from my grandma when she was a child back in Czechoslovakia. I had someone at work ask me if I knew any Czech language. I had replied no, not at all. So, my goal is to sit down with my grandma and maybe learn some basic Czech words.

My Personal History / Walter Williams

On a hot October day while driving on a road to Memphis Tennessee to visit my father for his birthday, the year was 2011; during my drive I came across a field of cotton where something in me compelled me to stop, I walk from my car slowly but with determination, my destination was the cotton field. While walking through the cotton field, I bent over to pull the cotton from the stalk, the sun laid heavy on my head and the sweat rolled down my face almost instantly, I felt the raw unprocessed cotton in my hands, the cotton pricked my hands and my mind took me to a place unfamiliar to my natural life; this soon became very familiar to me in the stories told to me by my grandfather. Memories of a life not lead by me, but told to me by my ancestors, of a life traveled by my relatives who actually lived in the past where things were just terrible for black people. People who had the strength and courage to endure a life not fit for man, but a life that granted me the life that I have now.  Had it not been for the struggles in the cotton fields of my past African American people, where would I have been, it’s not one man that makes me, but many men and women that traveled that hard road without reassurance or knowledge of where this road will take them or when this hatred will end, that said; maybe it will be better for the people that will follow me later in this life. It’s not just the cotton that was picked, it was also the struggle that my people went through in the fields just too survive, which lead me to the road I’m on today …and I’m grateful to my ancestors…and to all those people known and unknown that fought for me and other African American people to have a better future and life. In the cotton fields, myself, on that particular day, gave me a since of the truth in the stories told to me by my relatives about how bad things were for our people back in those times. I believe that I was lead to this field as a reminder of the past by something higher than me to help me realize that the things I have now are things that I’m not only grateful for, but reminding me of how blessed that I am for not having to go through those times and for the things that I now have access to. Even though my struggle is not as bad as my past ancestors, I can still see by the things that I’ve went through in my past, and how much times has not changed, I know I’m still looked at as a second hand citizen. This cotton that I brought to class is something I keep nearby as a constant reminder of the struggles in my life today and the struggles of black people as a whole. My life has not been easy by no means, it has been full of all types of racial setbacks, from white people beating me with no police help when this is being done to me by a white man, to firing me from their employment for no reason other than the fact that I am a black man who continues to fight for what I believe in. I’m a strong believer in God and what religion really means and stands for, as I deal with the struggles in my life today handed to me feels like I am truly a child of God. The cotton is the artifact that I use as a reminder of my history and all the things I’m going through even today. My history is wrapped around  love and happiness, and the belief that things will be better for me in the future, either here on earth or in heaven where I believe is my final destination.

My Little Sister Erin by Ryan Waterson

There is something that happened in my life was the day my little sister was born. On April 30, 1999 my mother gave birth to my little sister Erin. This day was very important to me because it was the day my family became complete. First i was asleep in my bed and my aunt came and got me and we went to the hospital. Next we were waiting in the waiting room for hours to see when they was going to tell me if I had a little brother or sister. Finally the time has came and my grandma told told me to come in to the hospital room where my mother was at to see my little sister. When I walked in and I got on the the bed where my mother was laying. I looked at my mother and then looked at the baby and said, "Mama that's a boy!" My mother said," It's not a boy it's a girl. I said where is hair?, she bald mama." My grandma laughed and told me "she just doesn't have any hair yet." My mother responded and said," yea, she just don't have it yet!" Until this day I laughed about it and remembered it because my little sister is important to me and my family became a whole that day. Lastly, I feel I am important to her because she looks up to me and as her kind of role model. Saying that i have accomplish by being someone's role model.

The High School Hump by. SaRhonda Jowers

The High School Hump

When I was in high school, I struggled with my grades, there were tremendous tutoring opportunities around the school, but I wasn’t comfortable with being tutored around my peers because I was too embarrassed. I told my mother that I was struggling in my classes and that I needed help with my homework. She said “Well don’t they have tutoring at your school?” I said “Yes, they do but I’m not comfortable in that setting.” I need one on one tutoring so I can better understand.” She said “Well I will see what I can do.” She searched in different centers around the community that had one on one tutoring for me. She finally found the perfect center; it had a good tutoring program that offered free tutoring in all high and elementary school subjects. It was called the Roberto Clemente Center in East Chicago, Indiana. I received great help; my brother also received tutoring also. I passed all my classes that year. As I went through high school I continued to go to the center, I even took a tutoring job when I was in the 12^th grade. I guess you can say I grow up in this center, and because my family was so well known in the center and my brother and I did so well in school, the director and the staff of the tutoring program decided to put my family in the newspaper to tell the community about our success and to promote the tutoring program for other family that have children that are struggling with their grades.

My Dog Misty

About a little over a year ago I was told I get to move in with my dad. I asked him if I could go get a dog for our new house, he said it was okay. My friend Jake took me to the Hobart Humane Society and I looked at all the dogs. I saw Misty and she just looked at me and wagged her tail. I could tell she was the dog for me. Thankfully Jake took me that day, because she would have been gone the next. The humane society was about to put her down, until I bought her. Misty had a hard life before she came to live with us. Now she gets all the love in the world, she has a place to live and feel safe in. That's my story on the best dog anyone could ever have.

Prom by : Tamica Ware

Prom by: Tamica Ware

I was getting ready to go to prom. It felt like it was one of the biggest days of my life. The day went okay until it was time to get ready. As I went through a check list: hair (check), nails (check), and then my dress. My dress was off-white with gold flowers all over it. So as I put my dress on and got my shoes I began to sweat. Oh, no please don't sweat. So I put my jewelry on and went outside to take pictures. My dad and my brother awaited me. Dad said “are you ready to go?” I said “as ready as I’m going to be.” Dad said “my daughter is so beautiful.” “Thank you dad” I said. My brother said “have fun and be safe.”  I didn't get a rental car so my brother washed my aunt’s car that she loaned me for the night. I stopped at my moms and cousin house so they can see me off to the prom. My friend said “I love your dress.” Next, I went to grab another friend and we went to the Grand March. My friends clowned me and said my dress look like a wedding dress. Everyone looked so nice and color coordinated. Afterwards, my friends and I went to the prom. I was getting calls and text all the way there. We all had a good night and enjoyed ourselves. After the prom I dropped my friends off and went home to sleep.

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