Family

Arts & Life

‘Life goes on.’ How my abuelita challenged gender roles in Mexico

Not everyone’s great-grandma sold moonshine and slept with a gun under her pillow. But my great-grandma did. Here's what she taught my mom and me about gender, growing up and moving on.

At 17 my dad had to choose: leave his family to escape the war, or become a soldier

My dad, Fitsum Habtemichael, was 17 years old when the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea began. He was given a choice: to escape and to live independently, leaving his family behind, or to remain and become a soldier. So he left. When he left home, my dad walked 15 days without food, surviving off of dirty water.

‘History isn't one story.’ What my Korean family's immigration story taught me about my biracial identity

I am Korean and Irish, which makes me biracial. My Irish family came to the U.S. a long time ago, but for my Korean side, coming to America is more recent history. My great-aunt Sue immigrated from Seoul, South Korea to Seattle when she was my age. She even graduated from Rainier Beach High School, where I'm a sophomore. I talked to her about her immigration story, and what it can teach me about my own racial identity.

Education

From software engineer to full-time homeschool mom

Some people may think that homeschooling is only for celebrities or the reclusively religious, but my family doesn’t fall into either category. After 10 years of homeschooling I’ve just graduated high school. I talked with my mom about why she gave up a career in software engineering to homeschool me and my brother.

Lessons on surviving a pandemic from an immigrant in sanctuary

Seattle residents have been isolating in their homes for about a month to combat the coronavirus. One immigrant family in Seattle has been doing a version of this for a year.

Opinion: A Ye Olde Holiday Tale For 2019

NPR's Scott Simon has gotten tired of clichéd holiday stories, so he wrote one of his own.

How faith defines a family — and in my case, divides it

When my dad immigrated to Seattle from Eritrea, the Eritrean Catholic church became his new community. He goes to mass every Sunday. There, he sings in Tigrinya, his native tongue, and prays to God. As a first generation Eritrean American, I feel the duty to keep our traditions, language and culture alive. But the church has never completely felt like my own. And my brother no longer attends church. How can I protect my community while staying true to myself? And how can my brother and father bridge this gap between them?