“I was warned about the freshman year dorm life and told where to go for mental health counseling if exams became too stressful. I was not told what to do, how to continue, or who to turn to if I was suddenly forever ill.”
‘Every morning I was injected on an exam table while my classmates grabbed Starbucks.’: 19-year old diagnosed with IBD, ulcerative colitis advocates for change
‘My chest tightened, and I fought back tears. I suffered in silence.’: Mom shares journey with depression, anxiety, ADHD
“I couldn’t eat, I slept all the time, I lost 13 pounds in two weeks. I really didn’t know what to do.”
‘I spent my whole life trying to fit in, suppressing the things about me that made me different.’: Woman diagnosed with autism at 41
“I put on a show for the sake of others, all the while denying myself the opportunity to live authentically.”
I Am The Divorced Widow Society Overlooks
“I grieved like a widow, but I technically wasn’t one to the world. I wasn’t granted extended bereavement time off through work. There were no community meal trains set up. There was no GoFundMe pages created to help with the unexpected funeral costs. I wasn’t the one who had the final say for his obituary or funeral.”
‘Today, for the first time ever, I had to call an ambulance because of my anxiety. Unable to breathe, I threw up and broke down screaming, ‘Why me?’: Woman shares PSA on reality of anxiety
“Anxiety isn’t just having a hard time catching your breath. If you know someone who struggles with panic attacks, please be there for them.”
I Was Born To Carry Someone Else’s Child
“I had this crazy intense urge to be pregnant, but I didn’t want another kid. ‘I could give another family a child of their own.’ The idea stuck, and it didn’t leave.”
‘She’d look back on her life and think SHE was the reason I drank. It was just too much.’: Mom details sobriety journey, daughter’s battle with Type 1 Diabetes
“There was no intervention. No one said ‘We think you have a problem.’ There was no rock bottom. It was waking up one morning with my daughter asleep in my arms next to me and worrying about her future.”
‘It’s been years since he could ‘see’ my face. But he got to hear me laughing through my tears as I recited my vows.’: Woman shares her marriage, pregnancy journey with husband’s vision loss
“It makes me sad to know he couldn’t see me on our wedding day, or when we were engaged, or when I told him I loved him for the first time. But love has overcome all of these sad truths.”
‘But that’s IMPOSSIBLE!’ His vasectomy failed and reality sunk in.’: Mom shocked by 4th pregnancy, ‘It was meant to be’
“We were having a 4th baby in less than 5 years.”
‘I received a recall letter in the mail from the manufacturer of my implants.’: Mom of 4 details sudden journey with breast implant illness, pre-menopause, alopecia, and separation all in same year
“My right implant had ruptured and was leaking. Then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, my guy of 4 years walked out on me; he couldn’t handle all of it anymore. I lost most of my own breasts, then my partner, and now my ovaries were shutting down, too.”
‘Wait for the man who saves you the last piece of cake. Who makes you crack a smile, even if you’re mad. Who sees you making dinner and says, ‘You cooked, I’ll clean.’: Woman urges ‘you’ll realize you were never asking for too much’
“Wait for the man who doesn’t complete you, but inspires you to complete yourself, with his support. Because when you wait for the right man, you will realize you were never asking for too much. And he will show you just how warm, safe, and beautiful love really is.”
Our Youth Sports Coaches Do So Much More Than Just Help Our Kids Get Wins
“The truth is, coaches make our kids feel seen. Coaches teach our kids important life lessons. Coaches help our kids find confidence, even when it’s nowhere to be found.”
‘My husband came home and said, ‘I want to start my own company.’ Just like that, he quit his well-paying, secure job as a plumber.’: Woman shares reminder to pursue your dreams
“We heard, ‘Starting your own business is a big risk.’ ‘You could lose all your money.’ ‘It won’t work out. That’s a huge risk with kids to feed.’ See that building behind us? This is our ‘we made it’ picture.”
‘The world needs you. Not despite the darkness, but maybe because of it.’: Man shares open letter to those considering suicide
“I had a plan to die once. I knew exactly how I was going to do it. The darkness crept in until it nearly took over everything. But here I am, writing to you, telling you the darkness doesn’t last forever.”
‘I’m never going to be who I was before he died. Nor do I want to. And that’s OKAY.’: Woman shares recovery story after grieving husband’s death, ‘I know he’s happy for us’
“Someone told me I’d grieve FOREVER, so that’s what I believed.”
‘The other day I was texting a new guy and felt the need to inform him I was a bigger girl. His 5-word response shook my soul.’: Woman receives touching reminder ‘a girl isn’t her size’
“I don’t know if we’ll ever become anything more than just two strangers who exchanged words the 21st century way. But I do know one thing: I will never forget him. And when you find the winning words that make you see so clearly through the fog, you hold onto them for life. And you share them with the world, too.”
‘My son invited me to the gym. I told him I couldn’t go until I was closer to the ‘old version of myself.’ How could I work out in public where people could see me?’: Mom learns important lesson on self-love
“I wanted the version of me from six years ago. She was 60 pounds lighter. She ran 5k’s. She spent 12-14 hours each week at the gym. She was a size 8. And, as teenagers are so good at doing, my son called me out on my bulls–t. And I needed it.”
‘It shouldn’t hurt that bad.’ I was weak, lazy. A complainer. Only 15, doctors had already given up on me.’: Woman diagnosed with Lupus after years of misdiagnoses urges ‘find someone who will listen’
“I could not find my words. I slurred my speech and often got lost driving to places I’d driven to a thousand times. My doctor finally explained pregnancy posed ‘too much of a risk to my life.’ But come December, I saw two little lines on a stick. This little one was determined.”
‘We were so focused on building a family, we forgot we ARE a family.’: Woman details infertility journey, ‘We have so much love for each other’
“What I really wanted was a house full of love. And that’s what I have.”
‘I think you may have Asperger’s,’ my boyfriend said nervously. He broke up with me, unsure he wanted to see me anymore.’: Woman diagnosed with autism in adulthood learns to ‘umask’ and embrace authentic identity
“I didn’t know what to think. Immediately after our conversation, I started googling… and very quickly, it became apparent to me that for the first time ever, my life was finally starting to make sense.”
‘How could this be?’ I sobbed. Our baby had never heard us talking, singing, or reading to her.’: First-time parents raise awareness after welcoming daughter with Chudley-McCullough Syndrome
“I remember telling one of my friends that the ultrasound was just a precaution and I wasn’t worried. Little did I know, our lives would change forever.”
‘Who’s going to love me now?’ Tears slid down his face, and I knew he wouldn’t want to live with the scars.’: Young widow shares grief journey after losing husband in tragic accident
“There was a flash of light, screams. My reality became a blur. Everything I had ever imagined for myself was gone.”
‘Your eye pressure is ALARMINGLY high.’ Some days I can’t stop thinking about the ‘what-ifs.’: Woman details how infection led to living with glaucoma
“He came rushing over to take me to urgent care since I could not see to drive. ‘It’s really BAD,’ was all I could say to him through tears. It hurt to cry, but I couldn’t stop.”
The ‘Perfect’ Family Is A Myth, And It’s Time We Realize It
“People could us see arguing with each other. People could see us gritting our teeth and communicating via dagger glares. And for a little while, right there in the middle of an amusement park, I almost cried. Where did I go wrong?”
‘My weight fell to that of an 8-year-old. I thought I was FAT.’: Woman battles anorexia, binge eating disorder, ‘Recovery has helped me discover myself’
“I began cycling through extreme weight loss programs, plans and fads. My efforts backfired, and I soon had a new sinister predicament with which to contend with.”