“I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 34. I was upset, but I wasn’t surprised. I thought it was completely normal, as I had never been to a breast health clinic before.”
‘You have 5 years to live.’ It was the first time I ever saw my husband cry.’: Mother diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer advocates for research, encourages ‘camaraderie and healing’
‘At some point, the laughter stops. Then comes the heartaches, the lows. Find someone who will see your ugly, and sit in the silence with you.’: Woman shares ‘ultimate relationship test’
“Sometimes I don’t need ‘cheering up.’ When the curtain closes and the house is empty, I need someone who will stick around through the ugly, and sit in silence with me.”
‘On the plane ride home from my summer vacation in Mexico, my face went numb. ‘Maybe it’s just the high elevation?’ Soon, I couldn’t feel the right side of my body.’: Young single mom diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis graduates college
“The doctor told me, ‘There is no cure. You will have this for the rest of your life.’ Then, I noticed I was 3 weeks late for my period. I’d just been diagnosed with an incurable disease and now I was pregnant all at the age of 20?! My baby’s father said, ‘I want to live the life of an average 21-year-old, just not with you in it.’ My life changed in the blink of an eye.”
‘My biology teacher said, ‘You’re lying. There’s no way you’d be alive without a pancreas.’ I held back tears, mortified. She accused me of my disease not being real.’: Diabetic woman details journey, ‘Our stories need to be heard’
“She tried to embarrass me in front of the class. ‘You’re wrong. I know what was done to my body.’ The room grew quiet as I sat there in shock. She accused me of my disease not being real. I knew right then and there I needed to make a change.”
‘Stay with me!’ My body was septic. I’d never carry our child. ‘There’s a baby at the hospital. Do you want him?’: After losses, couple foster to adopt, ‘He’s the redemption to our pain’
“‘He’s 3 days old, do you want to pick him up?’”
‘The ultrasound tech got quiet. ‘Are you here alone?’ I was freaking out. ‘This is what I see. Here’s one, two, and three.’ THREE BABIES!’: Woman births miracle triplets after pregnancy losses
“I texted my husband at work. He read it and just stared at his computer screen for 45 minutes, taking it all in! ‘How are we going to afford this?’ We needed a new car, a new house, three cribs. We were going from parents of 1 to parents of 4!”
‘Calvin will be a little brother.’ They said, ‘You mean BIG brother?’ We assumed we’d get a newborn. Then we read her story.’: Couple adopts older child, ‘The sibling bond amazes us’
“She flexed her muscles. ‘Do you think they know how strong I am?’ She asked if I would take her picture and send it to her foster family, so they could see how strong she’s become.”
‘I crumpled to the ground. ‘She’s a crybaby,’ the doctor said. ‘There’s nothing wrong. She’s wasting our time, take her home.’ I was misdiagnosed as a hysterical teen girl.’: Chronic illness warrior runs for first time in 29 years
“Flesh peeled away from my exposed wound and floated like confetti all around me as I sat in excruciating pain. I will never forget the smell. ‘You outta play the lottery, kid! You hit the proverbial jackpot, not once, but twice. What are the odds!’ It was spreading to my ‘good’ leg. There was no more Lara left, only pain. I was told it was all in my head.”
‘He gave up visions of Little League for IEP meetings and speech therapy. He avoids the stares, holding his teenager’s hand, and his entire heart.’: Woman pens appreciation letter to Autism Dads
“Late at night, when the rest of the family has gone to bed, he sits in the darkness of the living room. ‘Did I lose my patience too much? Did I apologize too much for my complicated boy?’ Deep inside, he is full of doubt and worry. This tender father is fighting a battle many will never understand.”
‘I know your story. I know what happened to your daughter.’ I felt sad for him. Ours is not a story of triumph.’: Mom shares emotions on child loss, ‘Everything DOES NOT happen for a reason’
“I ran into an old friend the other day. We caught up for a while and then I saw him look down at my arm. Looking back and forth from my tattoo to my eyes he finally said, ‘I know about Blake.'”
‘Thump-thump.’ I was the only barrier between my children’s precious snoozing and whatever horror awaited us downstairs.’: Mom battling anxiety recounts hilarious story of ‘intruder’
“Did I lock the door? I wondered, ‘Does one need pants to fight off bad guys?’ Halfway down the stairs, I heard the noise again. Thump—scraaaaatch—THUMP. My blood ran cold.”
‘I don’t tent camp. I camp with room service. Cancer changed our marriage for the better.’: Widow says ‘if you get the chance, go on that trip’
“I used to plan my life meticulously in a paper planner. Every week was planned out ahead of time. Every meal, every event…Matt was the fun parent. If you get the chance, go on that trip.”
‘They ‘must not enjoy their kids’ if they want to be away from them. We call them ‘attention seeking’ or ‘self-centered.’: Mother urges for ‘less jealously, more camaraderie’
“They are ‘lazy’ and ‘unmotivated.’ We call them ‘attention seeking’ and ‘over-sharers.’ Their insatiable need and desire to socialize is selfish and irresponsible.”
‘Dad repeated, ‘I put it in his hands!’ How could he have given his son lethal narcotics? I was frozen in shock.’: Man recounts brother’s overdose, homophobia, ‘Learn from your hardships’
“My father would call me ‘sissy’ and ‘mama’s boy,’ and it hurt. A lot. Words like these never leave you. But it forced me to rise up.”
‘I held my baby. ‘It will be difficult to have more.’ 3 months later, I had a positive test.’: Mom of 3 becomes foster parent, ‘This is where we’re supposed to be’
“The delivery was terrifying. I remember seeing bags of blood brought into the room. The doctor told me, ‘This will DEFINITELY be your last time carrying a baby.’ But I knew my family was complete.”
Show Up For Your Friends, Even When You Aren’t Asked To
“She sat with me in my messy living room filled with crumbs and toddler toys. She didn’t ask if I needed her…she just showed up.”
‘I don’t know who else needs to hear this, but it’s okay if you signed your kid out of virtual class early today.’: Mom reminds us ‘it’s okay if you don’t got this’
“You’re not a bad mom. Some days this less than ideal situation is less than less than ideal. It’s okay if you don’t ‘got this.'”
‘Dad takes broken things and makes them whole again, with the love, sweat, and all things great only a father can provide.’: Grieving daughter says ‘it’s not just houses he fixes, it’s people too’
“After my mother passed, he took my grief and wrapped it in humor and laughter. He took the darkness, and filled it with light. It’s not just houses he fixes, it’s people too.”
‘You think I’m a monster.’ What they’d been through was horrifying. Mom cried, the tears where you can’t breathe.’: Foster mom fights for reunification, ‘Their mom is the bravest person I’ve met’
“I saw their eyes when others asked them why they had a white mom, their faces as they kept justifying their family for the rest of their lives. ‘Of course the boys will always have a place with me, but this isn’t the end. You have to fight.’”
‘They told my husband, ‘Our entrees start at $50. You wouldn’t be able to afford that.’ We’d walked into an upscale restaurant for our anniversary dinner.’: Woman in interracial couple urges ‘color exists, and it’s beautiful’
“My husband is a loving, friendly, gentle father of 5, but he is not treated the same as everyone else.”
‘Her doctor burst in. ‘Where is she?’ He looked nervous. I wished for a second parent to defer to. But I didn’t have one.’: Daughter supports mom through terminal illness, ‘I hug her a little longer each day’
“For as long as I can remember, it has been the two of us. She kept up with all of her motherly duties despite being sick, fighting twice as hard because she knew she was all I had. I can never repay her.”
‘I thought, ‘This is how it all ends.’ I was crawling for help. I was alone and sobbing like a baby.’: Woman experiences hospital stay amidst pandemic, ‘He was there, holding me up’
“I was alone, and I couldn’t even see to text anyone I loved. And I couldn’t pray. I had no words. I was obviously dying. I could feel Him in the room. He wasn’t going to let me be alone and He never left me once.”
‘My two sisters went off to college, I went to prison. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t matter how you were raised.’: Recovered addict reminds us ‘addiction doesn’t discriminate’
“For every family member blaming themselves, racking their brain of where exactly it went wrong, beating themselves up, crying themselves to sleep, and thinking it was something they did…it’s not your fault. And it’s too heavy to carry.”
‘He’s going to leave you,’ it said. I cried and I shook. I wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember.’: Woman with endometriosis keeps fighting
“I called Will, asking him to come over so we could discuss my appointment. I told him I was terrified I’d lose my left ovary as quickly as it had taken my right. I cried and I shook, and he held himself steady.”
‘At 20, people judged our choice to get married. ‘You have to experience your single years and party it up.’ I didn’t want it. I wanted Marcus.’: Widow remarries after loss, ‘I love two incredible men’
“Then he went on a work trip and never came home. Our children were young, three under 5. I went from a blissfully happy marriage to having all of it ripped from me in an instant. And then came Dustin.”