From the Caregiver's HAErt — Danita LaShelle Jones

My screenwriting class sat in stunned silence as they stared at the picture on the screen. Finally, light chuckles filtered through the room. “Whenever you think someone has already done it,” I said to them, “remember this picture.” On…

There wasn’t a person on earth who knew more than I did at my 38th week of pregnancy. That’s what I thought, at least. With an incredible OB-GYN team in my city, a sister who served as my “virtual”…

My heart sank as I walked the length of the terminal. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is considered the busiest airport in the world, and I felt like the millions of travelers it serves yearly were all in…

Usually, there’s screaming. Other times, there’s writhing and doubling over. But more often than not, there’s screaming. Every May around Mother’s Day, it’s easy to find a video where men, and occasionally young teenage girls, try a labor-pain simulator.

“Are you OK?” my husband, Paul, asked, his voice laced with concern. The question seemed out of the blue and took me off guard. After a long day of work, running errands, and wrangling kids, I’d finally settled into…

“No!” my mom’s voice bellowed. I immediately laughed. I couldn’t see her, but I heard the undertone of laughter in my mother’s voice. She was answering — or wasn’t — my very loud “Hey, Ma!” from another room in…

With all odds against him, it was his last chance to win the game. During a football game in November 1984, the University of Miami was set to beat Boston College, leading 45-41. Although Boston College had possession of…

“You actually trust him to babysit?” the woman asked me. Although it wasn’t my first time hearing it, the question still took me off guard. When our four children were younger, I was a stay-at-home mom. Even though our…

“I feel like it’ll be a little easier when they start moving,” my friend said as we had lunch in a local sandwich shop. A laugh bubbled up and escaped my mouth before I could stop it. Thankfully, my…

My legs were shaking, sweat was pouring down my face, and, because of the previous 24 minutes, my lungs were gently alerting me that a puff from my trusty inhaler was imminent. My laid-back trainer casually discussed his new…

The entire day felt like a blur. Due to scheduling mishaps, a misunderstanding of departure time, and construction-related traffic delays, I had about 30 minutes to get from the airport entrance to the gate. Thankfully, I made the flight,…