Family Dynamics

Liba’s Story: Living & Healing Through Grief

By Liba Lurie | December 5, 2022

Written By Liba Lurie in The Layers Writing Workshops. Photos by Shira Lankin Sheps (1/5) “When Will She Be Home?”…

Giving it to G-d

By Sarah Pachter | September 22, 2022

“Is everything okay?” I timidly ask in the examination room. I’m anxiously waiting as the doctor performs the very first…

All The Things I Can & Cannot Remember

By Sarah Raanan | July 5, 2022

This Story Contains: Pregnancy Loss, Pregnancy Termination, Grief This essay was written and workshopped in The Layers Writing & Publishing…

Forever On A Blurry Road: Memories of A Past Relationship

By Anonymous | May 12, 2022

He drove a red Jeep Cherokee Laredo. It’s a noticeable car, and for years, I noticed them everywhere. I would…

Remembering My Baby

By Perel Hecht | April 12, 2022

“My baby died.” I bite my lip. This isn’t the place, I remind myself. This is a stranger. This is…

Giving Myself Permission to Grieve My Mother

By Anonymous | April 4, 2022

I clearly remember the morning in school when I announced, “my mommy passed away and she’s in shamayim.” The room…

Memory: The Present, the Elusive, the Good, and the Bad

By Rona Novick | March 28, 2022

Facebook reminds me of a photo from 7 years ago, the moment I became a grandmother. My mother reminds me…

Learning to Rest

By Shira Lankin Sheps | December 22, 2021

I never let myself rest.  At some point when I was sick with chronic illness, all I could do was…

Behind Closed Doors

By Alana Shlagbaum | December 8, 2021

My story started out pretty ordinary. I married the boy I had a crush on in summer camp and we…

Listening To My Own Voice

By Tali Muroff-Seligsohn | October 26, 2021

She told me to get in the bath. “You’re not in labor,” she said.  Seven years ago, on August 12,…

Experiencing Depression After Pregnancy Loss

By Dr. Kerry Bar-Cohn | October 12, 2021

For much of my life, I didn’t understand what it meant to be depressed. I thought it meant feeling down,…

Choosing Love

By Cheryl Nayowitz | August 24, 2021

As much as I loved love and dished it out generously to others, I fed myself fear. This ingestion was…