“I remember church where children would sing the sweetest songs. I’d think, ‘I can’t have that.’ I explained to my future husband I may not be able to conceive.. We wanted it so badly.”
‘She wants to meet you!’ I remember the call like it was yesterday. I squealed like a little kid!’: Woman with endometriosis adopts ‘sweet little angel’ after traumatic pregnancy
‘I got the text, ‘Lex, we had an accident, but I don’t want to worry you.’ My son was the baby who literally fell onto his head accidentally.’: Mom to become NICU nurse after miracle baby survives traumatic brain injury
“I was told by a doctor, ‘You need to accept your sons’ fate. You are severely in denial.’ I was 20 years old and terrified. I was labeled as the Mom who ‘wasn’t emotionally responding appropriately.’ The media and local news blew it up into something it wasn’t.”
‘The doctor said, ‘How do you want to leave this hospital? With a poop bag or in a box?’ I denied consent 8 times.’: Woman with ulcerative colitis, ostomy bag says ‘you only get one body, love it!’
“I’d spent so long thinking no one would ever love me and then when I finally found the perfect, most precious man, I had to get a poo bag? I wanted to scream and cry and throw things. On my 26th birthday, I was looking death in the face.”
‘I felt sheer terror. ‘Are you scared off yet?’ I knew if I met him, I wouldn’t say no. This is what I signed up for.’: Single mom adopts medically complex baby with Down syndrome, ‘I knew he was mine’
“I thought he was going to die that day. I put my life on hold to be there for him every day and night. I knew he was mine.”
‘It’s probably stress.’ My newly retired parents became full time caregivers. Waking up was worse than my nightmares.’: Man with chronic illness turns life around, ‘I turned pain into purpose’
“I now raised a finger signaling, ‘Yes.’ This was how I communicated. I felt like a burden to my friends. An injury twisted the fate of my entire life.”
‘Is it the right decision?’ They came to take her. I stood, paralyzed, and watched as she disappeared. There was debilitating fear.’: Girl with Down syndrome survives new heart surgery, ‘She’s one of the first to have it’
“I kept taking her picture, scared it could be the last one. I counted every eyelash, perfectly placed on her eyes. She would be the first on the West Coast to have this surgery. I didn’t want to let her go because then the decision would be final.”
‘My left foot hurts!’ He was so hot, his temperature was 103.6. But he’s so healthy. How could this happen? He’s only 4.’: Mom of Leukemia Warrior says, ‘I admire his spirit’
“Frankie woke up complaining about his stomach. We took his temperature, and you could feel the heat radiating. I kept thinking he had contracted the virus. I could feel my heart in my throat.”
‘I’ll never forget the comment she made: ‘You’re not you without your long, beautiful hair!’ I was deeply embarrassed.’: Bride with alopecia embraces baldness, ‘Hair does not define beauty’
“I was pitied and hid behind an uncomfortable wig every day, consumed with anxiety someone would find out my secret. One day, I decided I didn’t want to live in shame anymore. ‘Shave it all off,’ I told my husband. I wanted to live my truth.”
‘OH MY GOD! BOMB!’ An old lady was holding onto the banister for dear life. I had to leave her. All I could hear was sobbing.’: Mom recounts surviving 9/11 while pregnant, ‘I’m blessed to be alive’
“‘WHAT IS GOING ON?’ Everyone was screaming. My friend fell and was getting trampled. I worried for my unborn child. When the second plane hit, we ran.”
‘The principal came over the loudspeaker. ‘What’s going on?’ I panicked as we left. ‘They can’t find your Grandma Myrna.’: Woman remembers grandma lost on 9/11, ‘I still miss her laugh’
“She worked at the World Trade Center, and she’d shop on her lunch break. She ALWAYS had the most out-of-this-world clothing. She was constantly turning heads. ‘Do you think Grandma is gone?’ All I remember is the way she looked at me.”
‘I wasn’t there by accident.’: Documenting ground zero as tragedy striked Manhattan
“A police officer yelled into his two-way radio, ‘It’s gone. The World Trade Center is gone.’ God only knows what I inhaled that day. I wasn’t sure I’d survive.”
‘I explained my past. ‘The man took photographs. He was 57 years old.’ I hated myself and turned to drugs.’: Woman with BPD gets sober, changes life, ‘I love how far I’ve come’
“I struggled to talk to the therapist. I explained what I went through when I was 12. I encountered a child predator. Having my son pushed me to find the answers as to what happened.”
‘In between breaths, I sobbed, ‘Breathe, baby. Please. Please, breathe.’ They placed my tiny infant onto a gurney.’: Mom raises awareness about RSV, Kawasaki’s Disease after hospital scare
“For seven days, she was a medical mystery.”
‘My mother-in-law was texting me nonstop. ‘Can you meet me?’ She refused to tell me what happened. I got sick to my stomach.’: Young widow shares life after loss, raising late husband’s ‘clone’
“I called Mike’s phone. It went straight to voicemail. In that moment, the air was sucked from my world. All of this was happening while I had a room of 3rd graders. I couldn’t let on that something was seriously wrong.”
‘No one tells you it’s going to be this hard. The second they take their first breath will also be the day you’ll begin to forever hold your own.’: Mom gushes ‘it is all worth it’
“You’ll wish more than anything to return to yesterday, to go back for just one day, to witness their first smile, revel in their first giggle, and be serenaded by their very first coos.”
‘Are you sitting down?’ I was carrying a little one incompatible with life. I’ve prayed like I’ve never prayed.’: Mom grieves loss of 2 newborns to rare chromosome condition
“I was completely inconsolable, bawling, unable to pull myself together. ‘I just don’t want to ever have to do this!’ She had lived, breathed, and been loved completely.”
To The Firefighter Who Saved Me On 9/11: I Will Live Life To The Fullest In Your Honor
“I will live, never in vain of his heroism.”
‘I smashed the window while holding my son. ‘Go buy essential oils,’ the nurse told me. I was pushed aside.’: Mom of 2 advocates for postpartum depression, ‘There’s no need to suffer in silence’
“If you feel like this again, call and I’ll talk you off the ledge.’ I was ashamed to admit I was having thoughts of harming myself. It triggered something I have never experienced: intense rage.”
‘I was shut upstairs, locked away. ‘There must be something wrong with me.’ Sex was learned from books. I felt unsafe.’: Woman leaves past life, walks 500 miles, ‘I let others love me’
“At 12, my grandmother looked me in the eye and said, ‘If you want to go to the gym, I’ll pay. I think you need it.’ I was the girl who drank 25 shots in a row and took her clothes off in a room full of people. I felt dead inside.”
Some Days A Daughter Just Needs Her Mom
“When the days feel long. When we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. When we need someone who will feel the same excitement in her heart. We are all just our mother’s daughters. We carry their heartbeat within us every day.”
’38 weeks pregnant with twins, the doctor said, ‘Your other son has cancer wrapped around all his organs.’: Recovered addict urges ’embrace the challenges’ after birthing twins, Neuroblastoma survivor
“The only words I could get out were, ‘He won’t die, right? He won’t die.’ As long as I live, I will never forget the doctor’s response: ’50/50 chance.’ He called me an ‘idiot’ for wanting to place him on a second treatment trial. ‘We need to stop.’ I knew it was right for our boy.”
‘My girlfriend gave me an ultimatum. ‘Either that has to go, or I do.’ I broke down in tears. I tried my hardest to stop, but the desire lingered on in secret.’: Male crossdresser outed at work details journey to ‘liberation’
“I got a text one morning from my best friend. It simply said, ‘Hey.’ I knew something was up. ‘Somebody at work discovered Sami and is spreading it around.’ I work with about 300-400 people. My heart sank down into my stomach.”
‘My boyfriend who ‘loved me’ broke up with me over the phone once I was in the hospital. My health deteriorated at lightning speed.’: Woman details journey with Crohn’s Disease, ‘You can rise above and flourish’
“I went from being a perfectly healthy 21-year-old with the world by the tail to 105-degree fevers every day. One day, my mom found me lying on the couch at dinner time in my pajamas from the night before. ‘It’s time to get to the bottom of this.’ Something wasn’t right, but we couldn’t put our fingers on it.”
‘Numbness consumed my whole left side. ‘You’re tying your boots too tight.’ The next thing I knew, I collapsed.’: Navy Ordinanceman battles MS during leave, ‘Be the person you need to be’
“I couldn’t move nor feel the entire left side of my face. I chewed a hole on the inside of my cheek due to no feeling. Looking at my mom and sisters’ faces filled with tears, I knew it wasn’t good.”
‘She was too scared to sleep for fear she wouldn’t wake up. She swore she was going to die at the hospital.’ : Parents share reality of 9-year-old’s battle with brain cancer, ‘Her faith is high’
“We didn’t know what real heartbreak was until we were forced to watch our baby battle childhood cancer. Even though we walk around the house with a smile, being brave for each other, our hearts are smashed into tiny pieces. When you try to picture the future, it takes your breath away, because you can’t picture life without them.”