Family relationships are never simple. But Sherman Alexie's bond with his mother Lillian was more complex than most. She plunged her family into chaos with a drinking habit, but shed her addiction when it was on the brink of costing her everything. She survived a violent past, but created an elaborate facade to hide the truth. She selflessly cared for strangers, but was often incapable of showering her children with the affection that they so desperately...

Jenny Long is the mother of Conner, 9, and Cayden Long, 7, who have competed in triathlons together as Team Long Brothers since 2011. Connor saw it a way for him to connect with Cayden, who suffers from Spastic Cerebral Palsy and they have competed in more than 14 triathlons, including two IronKids Triathlons. In 2012, the brothers were awarded the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) Hero Among Us Award.

"Douglas Stanhope is one of the most critically acclaimed and stridently unrepentant comedians of his generation. What will surprise some is that he owes so much of his dark and sometimes uncomfortably honest sense of humor to his mother, Bonnie. It was the cartoons in her Hustler magazine issues that molded the beginnings of his comedic journey, long before he was old enough to know what to do with the actual pornography. It was Bonnie who recited...