Category: Family

FamilyLGBTQPoliticsYouth

Trump Targets LGBTQ Foster Care and Adoption – My Latest for @PghCurrent

November 12, 2019 by
FamilyIn Memoriam

And I Owe It All To You – Remembering my friend, John Ruffing

November 8, 2019 by
Dr. John Ruffing

Dear John, It will be 12 years Saturday since you died. I’m frightened by how quickly the memorials to you are overwhelming the memories with you. I guess that makes sense – we met when I was 15 years old and struggling to figure out all of the things. I was 37 when you died. […]

FamilyLGBTQWe are Family!Youth

“Can you take a 13-year-old Caucasian boy?” Guest Blog Post for #LGBTQFamiliesDay

June 3, 2019 by
Lesbian Foster Family

This is a guest post written by a friend who is a foster parent. Her son has given permission to share pieces of his story to signal boost the vital role of LGBTQ foster families. This is part of our contributions to the #LGBTQFamiliesDay project. Content Note: Abuse, Trauma, Homophobia, Family Rejection “Can you take […]

EnvironmentGenealogy

Happy Birthday to my Cousin Rachel Carson

May 27, 2019 by
Rachel Carson Family Tree

Rachel Carson is my cousin and I’m pleased as punch. Today, May 27, is her birthday so I am finally publishing my little tribute to our family connection. I’ve spent most of my life having little to no information on the family of my great-grandmother, Jane Rice Remley. Her story was a mystery of half-hidden […]

ActivismFaith and ReligionFamily

Ten Alternative Gifts to Celebrate Easter & Spring & More

April 18, 2019 by
alternative easters gifts

We are honoring Passover and Easter this week along with the first real lasting bout of spring weather. This means lots of sniffles, but also buying stuff for gifts – candy, toys, etc. I don’t want to take away your joy at gnawing on that giant chocolate ear, but there are some other ways you […]

Family

I Miss My Parents

March 20, 2019 by

Sometimes, I think about my parents or my brother or his children. Those thoughts are accompanied by deeply painful, gut wrenching feelings of loss, separation, and grief. We are not separated by death, but by the truths and transgressions of our lives. I haven’t spoken with my brother in nearly a decade and I last […]

Family

This Winter’s Night

January 30, 2019 by

It is 12:10 am and I should be asleep. But Ledcat had to go into work from 11 pm until 1 am tonight. She has to interview someone in one of her cases and has to meet them while they are on shift. She’s too fair to shirk work even in frigid temps. She would […]

Family

Family movie night with niblings aka Mary Poppins Returns

January 12, 2019 by
GenealogyLGBTQOtherWe are Family!

All in My Queer Family: Discovering DNA Ties to My LGBTQ Friends in Pittsburgh

January 9, 2019 by
queer family of choice

One unexpected benefit of chronicling my family history has been discovering that people I already know are part of my extended family.  First there was my friend Dave Ninehouser (6th cousin) and then a neighbor, John Graf (4th cousin 1x removed), followed by finding new-to-me local folks who are also in my tree. Our pet […]

Family

The Aunt Booklet or How Our Niblings Gave Us the Best Gift Ever

January 4, 2019 by
Aun Nppl;et from niblings circa 2019

On Christmas Day, the Dunhoff niblings gave us a pretty cool gift – a coupon book for monthly get-togethers conceived out of their ideas of things to do with us. Ava is 13 and Jack is 10. We enjoy spending time with them quite a bit so it was a lovely gift. They handmade the […]