“She started to sign to me. ‘I don’t use sign language, I can hear and talk.’ I had unintentionally made a judgment about Deaf/HoH people, not realizing I’d judged myself in the process.”
‘He jumped out and screamed boo during hide and seek. She never turned around; she was still wondering where he went.’: Mom details her and daughter’s journey being hard of hearing
‘I used to be a horrible friend. I was alone, lost.’: Woman overcomes insecurities and anxieties to be better friend
“If someone had something great, I instantly felt less than. I was sarcastic, pessimistic, and judgmental. It was the swiftest, most needed kick in the face.”
‘The doctor secretly put in my chart, ‘Borderline personalities due to dislike of multiple providers.’ I was down to 107 pounds, in constant pain. No one was willing to listen.’: Nurse, chronic illness warrior shares emotional journey to diagnosis
“I was ignored by providers during my cries for help. Friends stopped asking me to hang out. My long-term partner was emotionally unavailable. I had to learn to pursue the life I deserved despite the labels.”
‘I was 8, ‘dating’ everyone in my grade for validation. I was acting out to feel something, ANYTHING.’: Woman overcomes body image issues, finds online support community
“I posted a TikTok, and it skyrocketed from one view to one million views within hours. Then thousands of hate comments came in.”
6 Things You NEED To Know Before Adopting
“Despite being deemed competent and fit by my state of residence to adopt, I was ill-prepared for all that comes with bringing a child from another family into my home.”
‘Your mom left you with me to babysit and never returned.’ He was a young Marine, just back from the Vietnan war. He made the ultimate sacrifice.’: Adoptee shares journey to self-acceptance, motherhood
“‘Initially I found a babysitter for you, but I realized you needed stability, so I brought you home – and filed for adoption,’ he said. He was my first love, my first teacher, my first protector. He encouraged me to believe in myself.”
‘I hid behind my mom the 1st day of kindergarten, afraid to walk into a room of kids who did not yet know I was different.’: Woman with alopecia shares self-love journey, ‘I show up for myself’
“A close friend asked, ‘Can you be a bridesmaid at my wedding?’ I realized I couldn’t do it with my usual head coverings. The whole time at the wig shop, I cried. With each one I tried on, I felt like I was giving up, forced to resign, like I was surrendering to a new life with no hope.”
‘He said they were ‘non-symptomatic.’ I was sent off feeling relieved it wasn’t worse—if only I knew.’: Woman shares journey with Tarlov Cyst Disease to raise awareness
“When I woke up, I had lost sensation completely in my left leg, and I lost control of my bladder. The pain was excruciating.”
‘We shoot 1000 pictures of the same instant, but we often forget to live it.’: College student urges ‘capture the moment’ rather than the picture
“‘The quality of the pictures suck.’ I wasn’t worried if my smile was too big, or if my hair was messy, or if my makeup was smeared, and it truly made all the difference.”
‘In ONE week, I’ve heard: ‘What’s wrong with her?’ ‘That’s so sad she has no arm.’ ‘She’s scary, I don’t like her.’: Special needs mom shares important reminder to teach inclusivity
“As you buy the backpack, and the crayons, and do all the school preparation things, please do the most important thing.”
‘The adoption lawyer said, ‘See you soon!’ We both said, ‘This is it!’ Our family of 6 was complete, or so we thought.’: Couple adopt daughter’s sister from foster care, ‘She’s the piece we didn’t know we were missing’
“We received a call from our little girl’s bio grandma. CPS had a baby girl in foster care a few hours away. ‘I was hoping you’d be able to take her.’ Siblings are meant to be together. And as much as they needed each other, we needed her too.”
‘He’s ANNOYING.’ The mom side of me wants to reply to every situation with what he ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ do.’: Mom of teenager urges ‘HONESTY is the key’
“‘I get it.’ The high school years terrified me, but I decided to not play only the mom role.”
‘A huge hole in my heart was finally fulfilled. I burst into tears, looking her mother in the eyes, telling her how grateful I was.’: Mom reunites with daughter she had at 17 after self-help journey
“I received a text, ‘Just wanted to say I LOVE YOU!!! And I’m SO incredibly proud of you and who you are.’ She came home when I fulfilled my promise to accomplish my dreams.”
There Were No Princesses With Limb Differences, So I Decided To Change That
“I cosplay in the hope that one simple picture might make a child somewhere dream a little bigger, for they are also beautiful and clever and strong indeed—exactly as they already are.”
I Wasn’t Married By 30, So I Became A Single Mom By Choice
“I remember telling my friends and family that if I wasn’t married or in a serious relationship bound for marriage by the age of 30, I was going to have a baby on my own. They laughed and told me I was crazy. Little did they know, I was completely serious.”
‘He didn’t listen to my concerns and pushed me to medical menopause at 27.’: Endometriosis warrior shares struggles to find treatment
“After a few months my periods stopped completely, I gained 30 pounds, and was constantly bloated. If you don’t make time to take care of your health, you will be forced to take time off for your illness.”
‘What could he possibly be talking about?’ I was utterly confused. ‘You will always be my baby sister.’: Woman discovers adoption by grandparents at age 41
“I had a sickening feeling when I accepted the call. Is he having a mental breakdown? ‘I hear you loud and clear, and I’m absolutely fine.’ Silly me.”
I Had A Good Childhood And Got Straight A’s, But Mental Illness Doesn’t Discriminate
“Everything was going great until 7th grade in 2014.”
‘Every night for 3 years, I prayed someone would see my pain and advocate for me.’: Human trafficking survivor ‘repurposing pain’ to help other victims
“I never thought I’d make it this far. I never thought I’d be able to write the words ‘I feel safe’ and mean it. I have come so far from the broken, hollow girl who sat in the corner and rarely spoke.”
‘She texted me a positive pregnancy test photo. ‘Do you want another baby?’: After struggle with infertility, couple share beautiful open adoption journey
“‘Do you have a name for this baby?’ I have never loved someone so unconditionally while, at the same time, feeling immense gratitude for her sacrifice.”
Neighborhood Boys Befriend Girl With Down Syndrome After Mom Fears She Won’t Fit In
“She has a safe place to be ‘one of the kids’ without prejudice or cruelty, provided by the unlikeliest of motley crews!”
‘Tears falling, I limped to the school bathroom. ‘The bottom of your femur just broke off and is stuck underneath your kneecap.’: Young woman turned personal trainor shares journey with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
“Life completely flip-flopped on me. I was so depressed and mad at my body, I began to self-harm out of frustration. It took me a while to see value in myself again.”
‘He quietly tip-toed into my room, eyes sleepy and hair disheveled from tossing and turning. ‘Can I lie with you?’: Mom shares sweet reminder ‘one day they won’t come to you anymore’
“I wanted some me time. Scratch that, I NEEDED some me time. Still, I couldn’t turn him away. You see, this lockdown and remote learning isn’t boding well with him. He needed to know I was there, needed to know he could count on me.”
‘It’s like throwing everything in the backseat, then slamming on the brakes so it all comes flying forward.’: Woman candidly shares journey grieving multiple loved ones
“I was 12 when my mom died. My youngest sibling was a baby, just learning how to walk. It was Easter and she was taken by a brain aneurysm. Gone. At 35. No explanation. I successfully blocked it out of my mind for 20+ years. Attempting to protect my heart. It worked…until it didn’t.”
‘When our daughter was 13 weeks old, he admitted, ‘I fell out of love with you.’ He was leaving us.’: Single mom shares journey full of support from mom who parented solo
“I was completely shattered. I’d known him 14 years, been together 13 years. We had a beautiful family home, a crazy dog who we rescued, and to complete our little family, our newborn daughter.”