“He donated bone marrow to save the life of a complete stranger. He was excited. Elated. He barred me from telling anyone, he didn’t want to make a fuss. That’s the man I’m married to.”
‘He received an email. ‘Because of you, I’m able to celebrate my birthday, and 60 years of life. Thank you.’: Husband donates bone marrow to stranger, wife feels blessed, ‘He is the calm to my storm’
‘Mom, I can’t get the video out of my head.’ My sweet boys who still snuggle, could be viewed as a threat.’: Mom encourages sons to protest, ‘My boys got to participate in something so impactful’
“’Why is that officer on that man’s neck?’ It dawned on me, although we explained racism and expressed there are people who will hate them because of their skin color, we failed to put emphasis on how some of those people may very well be the same ones intended to protect you.”
‘She was abandoned with nothing, not even a name.’: Woman starts orphanage for terminally ill kids
“‘Her own family didn’t even want her,’ the judge told me solemnly, ‘She’s probably not going to live. Why would you even bother? Why do you care so much?’ I looked right back at her and said, ‘Because her life matters.'”
‘I’m lying on the ground crying. ‘I can’t bear this.’ His life will be over before it really begins.’: Mom advocates for son’s terminal illness, Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, ‘Strength is more than muscle’
“How can I watch him learn how to feed himself, knowing all too soon he won’t be able to move his arms? I tried to imagine what life was going to look like with this diagnosis. ‘I just can’t do this.’”
‘I carry him. I know it looks silly. His toes dangle past my knees. But still, I carry his awkwardly long body against my own.’: Special needs mom says ‘he carries me, too’
“The world moves fast and demands so much. I imagine with my son’s disability, it is often more exhausting. When he’s reached his limit, I’m close to my own. But when I carry him, he somehow carries me, too.”
‘I dropped to my knees. ‘Mom, I’m scared. I’m more than scared. Something terrible is going to happen to me.’: 21-year-old receives Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis, ‘I never knew how strong I’d come out of this’
“‘Miss Lehman, come on back.’ Finally. The moment I was waiting for. I had a whole list of symptoms written in my notes on my phone I read off to the nurses. They all looked at me with question marks on their faces. I could feel their energy. They thought I was just a young girl looking for attention.”
‘I received a rejection letter that read, ‘African American ‘fathers’ is such a tough sell. Your project will not be a good fit.’: Author denied book publishing due to ‘black protagonist’
“Imagine you’re a black author. You’ve written one of your best works about fatherhood. You’re super excited to get it published, only to receive a rejection letter targetting the color of your black protagonist.”
‘I feel like I’m pissing off a lot of people. I break my back, good mood, and spirit in pursuit of the best me. Don’t mock.’: Mom struggling with best decisions asks for understanding, ‘You have no idea’
“I’m too much or too little of something, or I’m doing too much or too little of something I should or shouldn’t be doing. Sometimes you’ve got to call other people out and now it’s time for that.”
‘Caleigh complained of back pain. ‘Her spine is collapsing,’ the doctor said. My sweet daughter was curving.’: Mom to daughter with muscular dystropy says ‘not every bad situation has to have a bad ending’
“Out of the blue, her ‘best friend’ no longer wanted to be her best friend. Countless strangers walk up and ask why she is using a ‘grandma scooter’ to get around. Any time she falls, people stare or laugh instead of rush to assist her. Still, she does not believe in ‘I cannot.’ Through all the needle sticks and surgeries, she does her best to comfort ME.”
‘Will she have brain issues?’ The doctor held my hand and said, ‘I don’t know.’ I’ve never been so scared.’: Woman births baby with Spina bifida, Hydrocephalus, ‘We’ve been through so much’
“We were given options to terminate. ‘Am I being punished?’ I didn’t know if either of us would make it. All I could do was hide in my closet and cry.”
‘I was walking into the grocery store when a kid asked, ‘Are you a looter? Do you like looting?’ Inside, I was boiling.’: Man turns racist incident into teaching moment for local kids
“As I was walking away, I heard one of them say, ‘Man the ice cream melted!’ I could’ve kept walking, but I decided to turn it into a teaching moment.”
‘I was embarrassed to announce my pregnancy. ‘I have a 3-month-old. What will they think?’: Mom of 11 ‘thankful for each healthy baby’
“Who wants to watch 10 kids? The babies were coming closer and closer and when our third child was only 3 months old, I found out that number 4 was on the way.”
‘I was told, ‘It’s good you had a C-section. You had it easy.’ I did not get a lucky pass.’: Mom urges ‘please stop thinking C-sections are no big deal’
“I had a major surgery where my stomach was ripped open. I endured pain and tears for months. As a mother, I felt worthless unable to help with household chores. This wasn’t what I wanted for my birth.”
‘Molly wasn’t safe. The naive side of me thought, ‘She could never do anything harmful.’: Dad describes helping wife through postpartum depression, ‘Know it will get better with help’
“A few days had passed after her initial statement about ‘not wanting our child.’ I had always known her to ‘say a few things’ to get a reaction. She wasn’t safe.”
‘I have proof I’m not lazy. The doctor said, ‘You’ll have challenges.’ Sometimes I can’t form a sentence.’: Woman diagnosed with narcolepsy, ‘I refuse to let it control my life’
“I sat motionless in my car, trying to process what it all meant. The world felt so quiet and so loud at the same time, as if it wasn’t the world’s noise I was hearing but the ringing in your ears you hear when you’re about to get sick.”
‘Want to join our team?’ I was just another potential sale. Spammed. Annoyed. Grossed out. Even ‘unforgivable.’: Woman criticizes social media marketing, ‘This isn’t how you actually support women’
“I saw their smiling faces with the captions being various forms of #girlssupportgirls on their photo. The difference made my head spin. They deserved to be blocked.”
‘Every time the needle pierced my skin, I stared at the ceiling, trying to stay breathing and conscious. My wait for results was unbearably long. Then, I announced, ‘We’re adopting a piano!’: Cancer patient says, ‘I didn’t have control, but I did have a piano’
“Someone in our neighborhood was getting rid of one. Nothing felt in my control. At 8:30 a.m. that morning, I announced to Brian that we were adopting a piano. Immediately.”
‘Dear Dads: we are quick to dismiss your hard work, assume life is easier for you, and joke at your expense. We see you, and we thank you.’: Mother pens grateful letter to all dads, ‘You’re killin’ it’
“Women who are mothers are usually good at building each other up, but where we often slack is doing the same for our male counterparts. I want to flip the script. I think it’s time the world rallied around you fellas and shouted your praises.”
‘I overheard Justin tell the kids, ‘You’re not allowed to scream in grocery stores. Someone might think I’m not your daddy.’: Woman details life in an interracial couple, ‘The past 12 years has been humbling’
“I notice the looks, the stares, the mean comments, the slammed doors as we approach people. When my husband and I started dating, I was nervous to introduce him to my family. He was Catholic, had a great job, and was incredibly kind. But, after all, he was black. Even though we are together, many people cannot understand it.”
‘You are more special, because I CHOSE you to be my daughters.’ He elected 8 weeks of inpatient rehab, just to walk my sister down the aisle.’: Woman shares touching tribute to late father
“The moment he met us, he was in love. To him, we were his daughters, not his step-daughters. I’ll never forget the phone call. ‘Boys, go to your rooms. I need to talk to mom.’ I knew the look of anguish, though I’d never seen it on my husband’s face. ‘Your mom found your dad in the driveway. He had been out messing around in the yard.’ I crumbled.”
‘I could’ve said no. I whispered, ‘I love you,’ as I thought about the significance of this appointment.’: Woman unsure of motherhood becomes special needs mom of 4, ‘Our hearts are full’
“In my ignorance and privilege, I could have opted for a simpler way. I could have said ‘yes’ to the stereotypical American family. But here I am, fully aware of the glorious ways motherhood has wrecked me.”
‘Your handwriting is a complete disgrace.’ I was livid! ‘This should have never happened.’: Mom and daughter with learning disabilities speak out against mistreatment, ‘Respect instead of judging’
“‘It’s all in her head. I can teach her how to write properly; it’s just pure laziness,’ they said. We got home and cried together. Nobody, from what I could tell, caught what he said. I spoke up. I was livid!”
‘You’re having TRIPLETS.’ He recommended a reduction. I would NEVER want to tell anyone.’: Couple goes on grueling fertility journey, has 3 children, ‘I realized how incredibly strong I am’
“I bled a LOT the day before my ultrasound. How on earth could we make this decision? I couldn’t sleep that night.”
‘He presented no remorse for his actions and was in and out of jail. I watched my family wilt and fade.’: Sister expresses gratitude for brother’s sobriety, ‘My brother is back’
“My brother didn’t care about his existence. Nothing could save my beautiful brother until he decided to save himself. My parents, they refused to give up.”
‘If you feel like you are failing at life right now, then Friend, you are in good company.’: Woman urges ‘there is no ceiling to this trench, we WILL get out’
“My children are playing way too many video games. My husband and I are constantly butting heads. I miss seeing faces without masks, miss asking my babies how their day was at school. I miss not having to stand in a line. AND WHY DO I HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME FOLLOWING THOSE DANG ARROWS?!”