Below are the essays of the first and second place winners in the Polk County Family Week annual essay contest. The essays are verbatim. This year's theme was "Why I Love My Family." ...

Forgot my lunch. Can you bring me something? I got the message when I’d been home eight, maybe nine, days. Less than two weeks out of prison. I remember I stood there and stared at that little ...

Dr. Bernard Harris became the first Black man to do a space walk. His family watched nervously seeing him take off into space.

I don't even care about the mess, noise, constant play dates, and yes, judgmental comments from my family and friends. I'm just doing what I have to do as a mom.

NORFOLK, Va. — I like to tell my children, “Kindness changes everything.” And for my family, on Saturday, Aug. 5, kindness did just that and possibly saved my son’s life. It came in the ...

Back to my dad asking who I'd prefer to have in the delivery room — him or my mom. "Whatever you want," I answered him, knowing full well I was still going to make sure it was a special moment ...

Didion’s essay is not sympathetic, but it helped make her famous. And rightfully so; she was able, by focusing on my mother, to rip apart the tissue of lies that California newcomers tell ...