NewsBreak Original

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand, used with permission. The other day my partner and I were driving through Bishop, a small city in the middle of California when we decided to have lunch at a famous Dutch bakery called Schat’s.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. In 2011, I dated a wealthy man who was taking a break from his career to work part-time in the hospitality industry. While his savings account was plump, his weekly paycheck was weak.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my friend, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My friend and her partner met on Tinder. It almost didn't happen, but she's glad it did. Today, they are one of the happiest couples I know, and they are proud parents of a baby boy.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. When I was a newlywed, I cooked a handful of favorite recipes in the kitchen on a regular basis. I wasn't the best cook, but these four dishes came out delicious every time. I tried to use that to my advantage by cooking them often.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my coworker, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. He didn't even ask his wife first. Just about two decades ago, I had a coworker who was deeply in love with her husband. Spouses should be deeply in love with each other. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was her husband was in love with someone else. She just didn’t know it yet.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my mother, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My mother recently told me about the festivals she and her family attended when she was a child. People flocked to these local festivals not only for the food but also for the singing and dancing, which included heavy audience participation.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my mother, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. Clearly, it wasn’t a legally binding contract.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. Fifteen years ago, I met a man at work. We both worked for the financial services sector. So I shouldn't have felt surprised when he asked me about my credit score.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I witnessed firsthand; used with permission. A decade ago, my mother and I visited a local pumpkin patch and vegetable stand.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family friend who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. On paper, they were the perfect match: In reality, not so much.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a family friend, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. A family friend recently shared a painful memory. She is in her sixties now, but when she was a young child she learned she had a secret brother. Her father instructed her not to tell her mother. Of course, she did tell her mother.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my mother, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. Growing up, my mother was very poor. My mother also grew up wearing shoes that were too tight.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my father who witnessed them firsthand; used with permission. Then his girlfriend got pregnant with his baby.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I witnessed firsthand; used with permission. My mother was the typical 1960s housewife. She cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner; and she cleaned the house from top to bottom every day. My mother handled the bills and the checking account. She did the laundry and ironed all of my father's clothes right down to the fresh, clean, white handkerchief that she placed in the pocket of his pants every morning before he left for work.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my mother, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. He didn't know what to think when he saw his usually modest wife wearing that ruined dress.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my friend, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. She went from a battered housewife to a happy single mother in the blink of an eye.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my mother, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. Here's why it turned out to be a very bad idea.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events I experienced firsthand; used with permission. My mother doesn't believe in public displays of affection, but my in-laws did.

They clogged all the pipes in the entire three-family house. My grandparents moved to the United States from a small fishing village on an island in the Atlantic Ocean where toilet paper was not a thing. They had never even seen a roll of toilet paper until they moved to the U.S.A.

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my mother who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. My parents have been married for more than half a century. Throughout my parents' marriage, my father has had numerous affairs.