Emily Richey is a graduate of Pace University NYC. She has written and edited for multiple online platforms, including Love What Matters. She spends her free time petting stray cats.
‘They are WAY too big to be picked up!’ They’re unaware I never held their tiny bodies. I fell and sobbed.’: Couple adopts 4 kids, ‘Being parents is the most extraordinary privilege’
“I’ve pulled live frogs from my son’s pants. They’ve peed in their dresser drawers. Their tiny lives are brimming with trauma and neglect. I’ve lost friends and family. I’ve missed major portions of their lives. They will always belong to another mama, too.”
‘I just want to run my car into the wall.’ He became short with us. Our arguments were violent. I tried so hard to reach him.’: Mom of 4 loses husband to suicide, ‘I choose love over bitterness’
“After we lost Hannah, he began spiraling. One night, he came home extremely late and he was crying. His drinking increased. I tried to reach out to him but his personality was split in two.”
‘I vomited in a bush from pain. I was told your 20’s are the best years of your life but I was watching them go by.’: Woman with ACNES syndrome starts fashion blog. You can still be YOU’
“I was sweating profusely and vomited in a bush from the pain. I was too young to get sick! I’d always been told your 20’s are the best years of your life but I was just watching them go by from my bed.”
‘His head hung, pajamas on from the night before. He forgot his bag. He never experienced forgiveness.’: Kindergarten teacher shares student’s act of kindness
“I walked over and found a gold pack of gummy bears, and a sticky note that read, ‘I love you.’ I burst into tears.”
‘DCS is on their way to get the kids.’ We hugged a million times. I cried my eyes out..’: Mom describes ‘unpredictability’ of foster care, ‘They’ll leave your home, but never your heart’
“Our 3-year-old snuggled in my lap and cried. DCS drove away with our kids. I cried. How do you convince them you will always love them? It’s not their fault.”
‘Why isn’t he growing right? I’d never seen a baby so small. They painted a bleak and miserable life for my son.’: Woman births baby with Prader Willi Syndrome, ‘I refuse to let it define him’
“He had tubes all over his body and when they put him on my chest, I barely felt the weight of him. I was faced with a baby labeled ‘Failure to Thrive.’ He looked strange to me. He was unlike any other baby I had ever seen.”
‘You need to decide if you want to go through with it.’ To her, I was carrying a diagnosis, not a baby.’: Mom to son with Spina Bifida says ‘a life with a disability doesn’t mean a lifetime of sadness’
“I stared at the doctor with tears rolling down my face. ‘Go through with what? My child I have dreamed about since I was a little girl?’ She was asking me if I wanted to end my pregnancy because my son had a birth defect that was not life-threatening.”
‘My husband took the diagnosis as an insult. ’What is your problem?’ He began to cry, ‘I just don’t want anyone to hurt him.’: Parents to son with autism say ‘he is meant to be exactly who he is’
“I didn’t want to face it. It was scary and unknown. My husband had an even more difficult time. He stood fast, insisting Beckham just needed time. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.”
‘You can choose comfort care or surgery.’ I wanted to scream. I didn’t know what quality of life he’d have.’: Mom loses baby with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, ‘He only knew love’
“’This defect is so rare, you’ll probably never see it in your lifetime.’ I felt like I was in a dream. I pinched myself a few times. What snapped me back to reality was the doctor saying, ‘I can do these surgeries, but his chance of survival is slim.’ I wanted the nightmare to end.”
‘Why mommy, why my daddy?’ He had an accident. ‘I’m going to do one thing for us. Get married.’: After ‘catastrophic brain injury,’ woman marries fiancé in ICU before his passing
“At 5.30 a.m., a friend was in our bedroom. ‘Wake up, he’s hurt his head!’ His skull was shattered. I collapsed on him and cried like I never cried in my life. How was I going to tell the boys what happened to their daddy? I rang the ICU to tell them of my wishes.”