Little love stories: "I missed my kids, but I needed my mom"

Modern Love in Miniature, with reader-submitted stories no longer than 100 words.
Wash Me Through
The winter of my 40th birthday, I was diagnosed with cancer which required major surgery. I packed my hospital bag and kissed my wife, toddler and baby goodbye. There, a Canadian storm bombarded the area with all possible precipitation. The roads were strewn with pitfalls, but my mother entered like magic. She made a bed with a hard bench and called it her place. I missed my kids, but I needed my mom, and she was there. Thank you, Mom, for carrying me through the winter storm into spring: I heal while the flowers bloom. — Anne-Marie Linnen
ImageMy mother, Lydie, sleeping in her place.
Italian Cheat Sheet
Living in different countries, we shared a file together at work. I have stored simple Italian words in it. I chose them carefully, as if each one was loved. She picked them up sometimes, to say hello, to say goodbye. One weekend, my best friend asked me, "Why don't you hit her 'mi piaci'?" ("I like you"). I lacked courage, but I ended up sending him a message of love. For a long time, I waited for his words to come back to me. I never heard back. I didn't have the courage to open this file again. — Sarah Cipullo
ImageConsidering my next move.
A renewal of vows (sort of)
Almost eight years after saying "yes" to my husband, I said yes again . This time it was a "yes" to uprooting our lives in Los Angeles to move to Albuquerque. The honeymoon phase had come and gone long before; we knew each other more deeply and sincerely than when we first said “yes” to each other, but we still wanted more. It made that second commitment to each other all the richer, all the more real. Nothing says "I will, again" like choosing to leave everything and everyone behind to start all over with the one you love. — Diahann Reyes-Lane
ImageAt Taos Plaza when we first fell in love with New Mexico.
A sculpture of a mother and her sons
Sometimes I dream of the days when they will be gone and I will be free. No more cutting hair and nails or scabs from their sandwiches. I often start daydreaming when my sons yell at me. "Don't yell at me!" I crack. "I cut your crust...

Fashion May 10, 2023 0 63 Add to Reading List

Little love stories: "I missed my kids, but I needed my mom"

Modern Love in Miniature, with reader-submitted stories no longer than 100 words.

Wash Me Through

The winter of my 40th birthday, I was diagnosed with cancer which required major surgery. I packed my hospital bag and kissed my wife, toddler and baby goodbye. There, a Canadian storm bombarded the area with all possible precipitation. The roads were strewn with pitfalls, but my mother entered like magic. She made a bed with a hard bench and called it her place. I missed my kids, but I needed my mom, and she was there. Thank you, Mom, for carrying me through the winter storm into spring: I heal while the flowers bloom. — Anne-Marie Linnen

ImageMy mother, Lydie, sleeping in her place.Italian Cheat Sheet

Living in different countries, we shared a file together at work. I have stored simple Italian words in it. I chose them carefully, as if each one was loved. She picked them up sometimes, to say hello, to say goodbye. One weekend, my best friend asked me, "Why don't you hit her 'mi piaci'?" ("I like you"). I lacked courage, but I ended up sending him a message of love. For a long time, I waited for his words to come back to me. I never heard back. I didn't have the courage to open this file again. — Sarah Cipullo

ImageConsidering my next move.A renewal of vows (sort of)

Almost eight years after saying "yes" to my husband, I said yes again . This time it was a "yes" to uprooting our lives in Los Angeles to move to Albuquerque. The honeymoon phase had come and gone long before; we knew each other more deeply and sincerely than when we first said “yes” to each other, but we still wanted more. It made that second commitment to each other all the richer, all the more real. Nothing says "I will, again" like choosing to leave everything and everyone behind to start all over with the one you love. — Diahann Reyes-Lane

ImageAt Taos Plaza when we first fell in love with New Mexico. A sculpture of a mother and her sons

Sometimes I dream of the days when they will be gone and I will be free. No more cutting hair and nails or scabs from their sandwiches. I often start daydreaming when my sons yell at me. "Don't yell at me!" I crack. "I cut your crust...