On My Own: A COVID-19 Story
| This is the 513th story of Our Life Logs | Thursday, March 12, 2020. I worked hard to stop the well of tears about to gush out of me. I bit my lip to choke down the sob threatening to escape from my throat. I told myself I had to hold it together for 20 more minutes, just until my boyfriend Charles left the apartment. Then I … Continue reading On My Own: A COVID-19 Story
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To Fight with Every Step
| This is the 512th story of Our Life Logs | I grew up in the late ’90s with the life that most people would dream about as a kid. My house was a few blocks from the best beaches California had to offer. The temperature was never lower than 55 (degrees Fahrenheit) and never higher than 85. I would spend my time riding my bike, … Continue reading To Fight with Every Step
Under the Dazzling Stage Lights
| This is the 511th story of Our Life Logs | Before I begin, let me tell you a few things about me. My name is Sushma. I’m a gender queer actor who loves to sing, dance, and shatter stereotypes. I’m just me, living a life that I carved out for myself. But things weren’t always so easy and rosy. In the 1990s, my parents immigrated … Continue reading Under the Dazzling Stage Lights
Walls Break Down, the Sun Comes In
| This is the 510th story of Our Life Logs | “I love you,” he says as I look into the honey pots he calls eyes. I can’t control the smile stretching across my face; for the first time in my life, I’m genuinely in love with someone. In this moment, I find myself looking back on a road that almost broke me and amazed that … Continue reading Walls Break Down, the Sun Comes In
While the Music Continues
| This is the 510th story of Our Life Logs | Well, let me start my story with a parable: “There once was a very small girl whose mother asked her to fill up a barren valley with water. Each day, the small girl carried her small bucket from the creek near their home to the valley. Nothing seemed to happen at first. There was … Continue reading While the Music Continues
Trapped in Gray Skies: A COVID-19 Story
| This is the 509th story of Our Life Logs | Life is unpredictable. People understand that now more than ever. But we also know that every situation occurs for a reason, and nothing is permanent. All experiences change and impact how you grow. And that is what happened to me. I come from a small city in Pakistan called Sahiwal. I was born in the late ’90s as the youngest and the only boy of five … Continue reading Trapped in Gray Skies: A COVID-19 Story
I Will Miss You Forever
| This is the 508th story of Our Life Logs | I came into the world on December 26, 1987. My parents waited anxiously for my birth as I was their first child. They loved me like no other and dotted over me, but our poverty compromised our household. Sadly, my parents couldn’t afford to keep me with them in the city, so they sent me … Continue reading I Will Miss You Forever
Carve Out Courage
| This is the 507th story of Our Life Logs | Courage is in smiles. It’s in bear hugs. It can be found when your mom holds your hand while the doctor gives you the bad news. Courage can be found when a new friend tells you to ignore that bully because you are stronger and more powerful than they’d ever even realize. Courage is found … Continue reading Carve Out Courage
What I’m About to Tell You
| This is the 506th story of Our Life Logs | As I begin to tell you my story, please know that it is painful. Even so, I wish to do so for all the victims out there so that, they too, will become survivors. I was born in 1992 in Kasur, Pakistan, and was raised alongside my two older sisters and a younger brother. We were not wealthy … Continue reading What I’m About to Tell You
Galloping Through the Darkness
| This is the 505th story of Our Life Logs | Listen to the audio: Isn’t it funny how we always stick a label on ourselves? From where we were born to what we do, somehow we always manage to tie a label on it. It’s not all bad, though. Some labels act as our family—wearing them makes us proud and feel like a part of something wonderful. And then, there’re the bad ones—they box you … Continue reading Galloping Through the Darkness
Nothing Lasts Forever
| This is the 504th story of Our Life Logs | If joy is hidden behind a bed of thorns, then I will cut my hands to reach it. My name is Everton, I am a Brazilian, born in 1988, and raised in a city called Salvador in the state of Bahia. I should probably specify that Bahia is a state where the unemployment rate is … Continue reading Nothing Lasts Forever
The Choice You Made
| This is the 503rd story of Our Life Logs | For better or worse, it is all a matter of what we choose. I was born in 1974 in a small settlement called Harappa in Punjab, Pakistan. My family was not too poor, but we most certainly weren’t rich. We lived in a joint home with my uncles who were illiterate farmers. My father was a little different. He worked a mediocre government job. It … Continue reading The Choice You Made