Promises I Can Keep

The authors provide a wholly new framework for understanding why poor women have lower rates of marriage and have children outside of wedlock.

Across the political spectrum, unwed fatherhood is denounced as one of the leading social problems of today. Doing the Best I Can is a strikingly rich, paradigm-shifting look at fatherhood among inner-city men often dismissed as "deadbeat dads." Kathryn Edin and Timothy J. Nelson examine how couples in challenging straits come together and get pregnant so quickly--without planning. The authors chronicle the high hopes for forging lasting family bonds that pregnancy inspires, and pinpoint the fatal flaws that often lead to the relationship's demise. They offer keen insight into a radical redefinition of family life where the father-child bond is central and parental ties are peripheral. Drawing on years of fieldwork, Doing the Best I Can shows how mammoth economic and cultural changes have transformed the meaning of fatherhood among the urban poor. Intimate interviews with more than 100 fathers make real the significant obstacles faced by low-income men at every step in the familial process: from the difficulties of romantic relationships, to decision-making dilemmas at conception, to the often celebratory moment of birth, and finally to the hardships that accompany the early years of the child's life, and beyond.

This text examines the family through two lenses - the familiar private family in which we live most of our personal lives, and the public family in which we, as adults, deal with broader societal issues such as raising the next generation and the care of the elderly. Consequently the selected readings look both at intimate personal concerns, such as whether to marry, as well as societal concerns, such as governmental policies that affect families. The author introduces each chapter, providing helpful lead-ins to the readings that follow. The 32 readings in this edition are comprised of a well-balanced mix of highly accessible selections from the popular press as well as articles from scholarly journals. This reader serves as an excellent companion to other texts in the sociology of marriage and the family and as a useful source of information on its own. It is an excellent supplement to Cherlins text, Public and Private Families: An Introduction. Its 16 chapters, which address contemporary issues such as the history of the family, welfare and welfare reform, divorce and step-parenting are keyed to the 16 chapters in Cherlins text.

Studies the rising inequality in American society and addresses the need for a progressive, multiracial political coalition to combat that inequality.

The inspiring story of a mother who took unimaginable tragedy and used her grief as a force to do good by transforming the lives of others. When Maria Kefalas’s daughter Calliope was diagnosed with a degenerative, uncurable genetic disease, the last thing Maria expected to discover in herself was a superpower. She and her husband, Pat, were head over heels in love with their youngest daughter, whose spirit, dancing eyes, and appetite for life captured the best of each of them. When they learned that Cal had MLD (metachromatic leukodystrophy), their world was shattered. But as she spent time listening to and learning from Cal, Maria developed the superpower of grief. It made her a fearless warrior for her daughter. And it gave her voice a bell-like clarity—poignant and funny all at once. This superpower of grief also revealed a miracle—not the conventional sort that fuels the prayers of friends and strangers but a realization that, in order to save themselves, Maria and Pat would need to find a way to save others. And so, with their two older children, they set out to raise money so that they, in their son PJ’s words, could “find a cure for Cal’s disease.” They had no way of knowing that a research team in Italy was closing in on an effective gene therapy for MLD. Though the therapy came too late to help Cal, this news would be the start of an unexpected journey that would introduce Maria and her family to world-famous scientists, brilliant doctors, biotech CEOs, a Hall of Fame NFL quarterback, and a wise nun, and it would also involve selling 50 thousand cupcakes. They would travel to the FDA, the NIH, and the halls of Congress in search of a cure that would never save their child. And their lives would become inextricably intertwined with the families of 13 children whose lives would be transformed by the biggest medical breakthrough in a generation. A memoir about heartbreak that is also about joy, Harnessing Grief is both unsparing and generous. Steeped in love, it is a story about possibility.

No one, not even god can write a perfect end for you! Unless he is dying. Mighty and irreplaceable as they are, words are lethal weapons that change lives… by sometimes linking two hearts and sometimes shattering everything irreparably. But when they are woven into promises, the change lasts forever. He had almost lost himself when she brought him back to life with her promises. Dying from a dreadful tumour, every night before they went to sleep, she took a portion of his heart and soul as promises. For better or worse, he'd have to keep the promises for the rest of his life. On his journey of fulfilling those promises, his bond is strengthened with all those who, like him, are keeping their promises. What were those amusing, surprising and painful promises they all kept? Can you live and die…both at the same time? Meet the girl who changed the lives of the people she loved, and those who find their true selves in Keeping the Promises.

A warm, intimate portrait of Jackie Robinson, America's sports icon, told from the unique perspective of a unique insider: his only daughter. Sharon Robinson shares memories of her famous father in this warm loving biography of the man who broke the color barrier in baseball. Jackie Robinson was an outstanding athlete, a devoted family man and a dedicated civil rights activist. The author explores the fascinating circumstances surrounding Jackie Robinson's breakthrough. She also tells the off-the-field story of Robinson's hard-won victories and the inspiring effect he had on his family, his community. . . his country! Includes never-before-published letters by Jackie Robinson, as well as photos from the Robinson family archives.

It's her destiny to die young. The man who loves her can't live with that. Promise, a talented young singer with a terminal illness, is counting on fame to keep her memory alive after she dies. Porta is an aging sorceress and art collector in search of immortality. When Promise inexplicably survives a series of freak accidents, Porta believes that she may hold the key to eternal life. Enter Chase, an autistic artist who falls in love with Promise and fascinates her with his mysterious visions and drawings. Soon, all are plunged into a confrontation over the mystery and the cost of something even greater than eternal life . . . eternal love.