“Tears were toppling from my unmoving gaze, the sound of them dripping onto the pillow beneath me was deafening. ‘Please just let me see his face. I can still feel the panic washing over me as my husband left my side. I can still hear the final scream hanging in the sterile air.”
‘I remember being ripped open. ‘Let me tell him I love him. Just once.’ I can hear the final scream.’: New mom battles traumatic labor and postpartum depression, ‘Some stories don’t have happy endings’
‘We belong together, the three of us. We’re a perfect fit.’ With 6 combined kids, the stakes were high.’: Woman shares experience in polyamorous relationship, ‘Love doesn’t have limits’
“People began to talk and rumors were spreading. ‘You’d do anything to keep your man.’ It all seemed too big and scary. What was bigger and scarier was living without each other.”
‘They whine because they FEEL SAFE. It’s the silent ones I worry about. They are the ones who don’t feel safe.’: Former social worker says, ‘Imagine all the times you felt too scared to speak up’
“Not the shy ones or the quiet ones. The ones who were too scared to speak up.”
‘Why suffer when there’s medication!’ I begged for help, no one heard.’: Widow suffers PTSD, finds herself, ‘I finally embraced the woman I once knew’’
“’I can’t do this anymore.’ I was stuck in molasses, unable to move forward. ‘PTSD? That’s for those in the army, or for major trauma.’ I was speechless.”
‘He’s only 11! He’s too young for college.’ She set out to prove I wasn’t smart. I got grouped with disruptive kids.’: 13-year-old attends college, ‘I found a place that challenges me’
“In 1st grade they took my reading score. ‘We’re looking for anything over 50. Over 200 and they’re ready for 2nd grade. Rohan scored 530.’”
‘They found cancer in her blood.’ The wind was knocked out of me. I bawled like a baby.’: Single dad says 2-year-old battling cancer ‘gives me the strength to go on’
“The news came one night when I was teaching a zoom class. I remember holding onto her so tightly, weeping. I had a choice to make. Would I choose to carry the legacy of my late wife or give up?”
‘It was my last chance.’ I burst into tears. I was only 22 and felt like my life was over.’: Woman details journey with Nephrotic syndrome, ‘I’m on the path to healing’
“I was covered in hives. My cheeks were flushed, and I gasped for air. ‘I hoped this was the answer.’ I was allergic to my last shot at remission. It had all been for nothing.”
‘He’ll be bulletproof!’ I handed him to the nurse and we locked eyes. Chaos ensued.’: Baby born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, ‘I love to be reminded of how he lived’
‘At 6 days old, Lawson had his first open-heart surgery. My baby had been through SO much. I was ready to give him the gift of time and life. He’s perfect.”
After My Breaking Point, I Decided It Was Time To Forge My Own Path
“I quit my job. I avoided a possible catastrophic marriage. Everything I’d kept bottled up was starting to surface. I didn’t have much courage under my belt, but I was still brave.”
‘I received a note stating, ‘A rose for every year.’ On my right wrist says, ‘Love Dad.’: Daughter gets tattoo in honor of late father, ‘It’s a little reminder he’s always in my heart’
“His breathing declined fast. We got a call saying, ‘Come right over, it’s not good.’ It was my daughter’s birthday. I kept all the cards he used to write me.”
‘She didn’t even say hello. ‘I hate to be the one to tell you this.’ I was too shocked to cry. What if he gets tired of my ‘sick’ body?’: Newlywed diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, beats it twice, ‘We find ways to celebrate’
“How was I supposed to tell him he married a sick woman instead of a healthy one? I looked at him and he knew. He just knew. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t have to.”
‘She looks at her like she holds all of the secrets to the world. She had a 10% chance of making it. I begged God for time together.’: Woman births baby with Trisomy 18, ‘I never believed in soulmates until then’
“We made a bear with her voice saying, ‘I love you, Charlotte.’ She was scared Charlotte would forget the sound of her voice. I will never forget the look on her face when my friend dropped her off.”
‘You drive me to drink. I wish I never had you!’ It was a nightmare. We suffered in silence.’: Abuse and bullying survivor urges, ‘Be kind to one another’
“My own mother said, ‘You’re a mistake’ to me and my sisters. I started self-harming and fell into a deep depression. I actually believed what I’d been told.”
‘I cried every day last week. Some days I have it together. I pat myself on the back. Most days I feel like I’m falling apart.’: Woman urges ‘it’s okay to ask for help’
“Shove a corn dog in the microwave, let my child play for hours on the iPad. At this point, I don’t care…as long as they give me five minutes of silence. I think a lot of us are in the same boat.”
‘Go have a good weekend because it’s not good news.’ Deep down, I was freaking out. I was so new to cancer.’: Woman beats breast cancer, welcomes 2 miracle babies, ‘I am a survivor’
“We were in the middle of wedding planning, living a fairy tale life. That was when I found my lump. ’We have bad news.’ My life was crumbling beneath my feet.”
‘Frankly, I was about to pull a Jesus at the Marketplace and send tables flying. Parents, we have to LOWER OUR STANDARDS.’: Mom shares act of ‘grace’ while out with family, urges ‘pay it forward’
“‘Great idea, hon. Let him eat on the filthy restaurant floor!’ A woman at the table behind us turned around in her seat. She was definitely preparing to make some commentary, and my stomach dropped a little. But then she smiled.”
‘Why do they love her when I’m here?’ For 6 years, I wanted to hate her. But I loved them.’: Adoptive mom shares relationship with kids’ birth mom, ‘Love can accomplish great things’
“I knew she’d self-medicated for years. My first message to her was anonymous. ‘My name is Jane, and we love the same kiddos.’ She was defensive, expecting a trap.”
‘You look like you’ve got a cancer patient. Who is going to pick YOU?’: Mom adopts daughter with alopecia and baby boy, ‘I’m in awe of my family’
“They melted and said, ‘Look at the joy in her face. If they love her, we know they’ll love our baby.’ They saw a family with differences and still chose us.”
‘You do you and I’ll do me.’ My child, with the crap lungs and fragile liver, will pay the price.’: Mom with ‘forgotten child’ discusses selfishness in pandemic, ‘We expected nothing less’
“We’ve seen countless rooms at children’s hospitals over the last few years, because the ‘little cough’ you sent your kid to school with landed mine in the hospital, unable to breathe on her own. I have a forgotten child.”
‘I remember the bomb going off and the leg shrapnel. 17 years later, more doctors. ’PLEASE, I don’t want to worry anymore.’: Vet survives war injury, melanoma
“I was talking to a doctor once again. This time it was different. I worried about my kids and the orphans. ‘We want to send you a check.’ The joy those words brought was indescribable.”
‘There I stood, bawling in a Christmas aisle at Hobby Lobby. 2020 has brought us nothing but hurt and I’m ready for my favorite time of year.’ Woman says ‘once we choose hope, anything is possible’
“I said to my husband tonight, ‘I have to tell you something.’ I stood right in front of these trees and started crying when I heard the acoustic version of ‘O’ Holy Night’ playing over the speakers.”
‘She’s never going to find someone now. She’s finished. A woman is single at 40.’: Newly single woman shares self love journey, ‘I am more than okay’
“Pathetic. She should just call it a day and get 10 cats, because if a woman is single at 40, she’s finished.”
‘He sobbed when I drove him home, ‘No, Mommy!’ It was unbearable. In his eyes, we abandoned him.’: Woman adopts brothers 2 years after saying goodbye, ‘God had bigger plans’
“I fell to my knees. It couldn’t be. This baby boy was going to go to an entirely new home. I cried myself to sleep, praying he was safe and loved. My phone rang. When she said his name, I thought I was going to throw up.”
‘There are other ways to be a mother.’ I was so angry. I wanted to be a mom the ‘natural’ way.’: Woman becomes foster care advocate, ‘I never expected my heart to change’
“I still can hear my OBGYN telling me all the diagnoses. Infertility. PCOS. ‘Fostering doesn’t make you any less of a mother.’ I felt my heart break into a million pieces.”
‘I think we better meet. He’s not going to stop until we do.’ All I could say was, ‘I’m going to call you back.’: Woman recounts unexpected relationship journey
“I called my best friend and said, ‘Listen, this weirdo is coming over to my house. I need you to stay on the phone. About that time, a baby-blue Cadillac pulled up in front of my house. ‘I’m going to have to call you back.’”