“Against my better judgment and while also trying to drown out the ‘stranger danger’ chant in my head I allowed him in. Then there was the knock that changed everything.”
‘He introduced himself and offered to clean a room in our house for free. I listened because he said ‘free’ and also because our entryway needed to be burned or bleached or both.’: Woman recounts meeting the love of her life
‘I was clutching at my children, afraid to lose them. I was desperate and it showed.’
“I did not get into this journey to build a family, but to provide a home. Some of my kids have found their forever homes here, and some just needed us for awhile.”
‘We pulled into the cemetery. As she opened the door, there it was. Two vials of glitter.’: Widow finds humor in special way as she and daughter honor beloved late police officer
“’Do you want to go see your dad?’ With her eyes swollen and her cheeks puffy from crying, she nodded. Once again, we didn’t have anything to leave behind. Then, there it was. I don’t doubt for one second he put it there to make sure we knew he was sending her a hug.”
‘We’re having a baby!’ My daughter ran the positive pregnancy test to her dad with the biggest smile.’: Mom adopts child from foster care in wake of infertility, gets pregnancy with her little brother
“‘Um, wait. What?’ We learned we’d been wildly misinformed about where Taylor was. She never went back to her mom like we were told. Instead, she went to 3 MORE foster homes, including one that lost their license for abusing children. Our frustration and anger with the system ran deep. We were here, ready, available and waiting for her. We didn’t understand how this could possibly happen.”
‘The results would reveal something was abnormal. Elevated white cell count with no fever. 10% scoliosis was the tip of this iceberg.’
“It had been months since Abigail and I had danced. She’s been in pain and tired so long and as time passes she is seemingly frailer.”
‘You have no idea how good it feels to be part of a family. Thank you for letting me be here.’: Foster mom grateful her children are learning ‘what it means to love’ by welcoming strangers into their home
“My husband and I woke up to find this note on our counter one morning, written by the 12-year-old boy who was living with us. I have carried this note in my purse for a long time, so I could take it out and re-read it on the hard days. There’s also a letter with ‘Youth Correctional Center’ in the return address, tear-stained, begging us not to give up.”
‘My son was only 14 months old and the baby I was pregnant with was only 6 weeks when their Daddy was killed.’: Young mom of 2 loses husband to impaired driver, urges others to ‘arrive alive, drive sober’
“Because of someone else’s selfish decision to get behind the wheel impaired, mine and my kids’ lives are forever changed. I can’t grow old with the man I was supposed to spend forever with and my kids have to grow up without their amazing father.”
‘Your son suffered a brain injury.’: How life has come full circle after his death
“The tears began to well up as I spoke to the staff, thinking about my two triplets who passed away within two months of birth. A strange sense of peace swept over me.”
The Mom Moments I Never Knew Would Happen
“I didn’t know that night, as we rocked back and forth in that cozy, worn rocker that it would be the last time I rocked you to sleep.”
‘Co-sleeping and bed sharing are wonderful. If you feel worried about these things because people make you feel this way, don’t.’
“These people don’t come home with you, don’t sleep in your bed, and they aren’t your baby, so their opinion is invalid.”