Nine-year-old Liam and his 13-year-old sister, Melanie, are playing in the basement. Their lives, up to that moment, have been what every child deserves: quiet, stable, ordered. The gunshots from upstairs end all that. Their mother is critically wounded. Their…
Or as my 8-year-old announced one morning last weekend, “It smells like winter is coming, Mom!” Just like seemingly everything in life, October takes on a whole new meaning once kids are in the picture. Back in the day for…
It was the end of a long day in August 2012 when Linda McNeil called to talk to the 17-year-old whose behavior had seemed a little off at a recent get-together. Linda, who leads one of Side by Side’s (formerly…
But oh, what a summer it was. We were lucky enough to enjoy some of the most pleasant weather ever – that is, if you’re a fan of low humidity and temperatures in the eighties. I hope you have many…
"It’s not just a school. AJC is more like a community center where people really know you.” That’s what Lorin Johnson has to say about her experience at Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School, an independent middle school serving low-income students…
Call it a guilty pleasure, but we’re giving you permission to put your feet up and soak in the last full month of summer, right along with this issue of RFM. Just moments before I sat down to pen this…
of another steamy RVA summer. Not so lazy for you? Well, it is true that there’s no shortage of ways to keep your crew entertained all summer long in the River City. Whether you’re hitting the summer camp circuit (and…
Last winter, Brianna and Golden Merrill decided their children were ready for a pet, and they began the search for a dog to meet the family’s needs. After speaking with a volunteer adoption counselor at Richmond Animal League, the Merrills…
“The day we found out Lauryn’s diagnosis, it was like having a nightmare.” That’s how Lauryn’s father, Richard Lewis, explains how he felt when his family heard that the swollen lymph node on his daughter’s neck was cancer. On that…
No, that’s not a typo and no, I’m not running that late. That greeting is for all of those moms who missed celebrating the day with their children because they were so busy surfing their timelines, seeing what their “friends”…
