“I always had a perception of what ‘outside people’ would act like when I told them, ‘I carried my son as a dad.’”
‘I am carrying a child and I’ll also be his dad.’: Trans man births son, ‘I wouldn’t have been able to survive this journey without the people in my life’
‘What are you gonna do to earn money for it?’ Mama and Daddy don’t do handouts.’: Mom says ‘working for things gives greater appreciation’
“As I type this out, my son is outside earning money by cleaning out part of the garage and cleaning up the flower beds. Guess he wants that video game pretty bad! Allow them to earn money through good ole work.”
‘Hey, what are you reading?’ Every day around 3 o’clock we see this boy sitting in his little green chair, waiting for Emma to come read.’: Kids start social distance book club, ‘My heart is so full’
“Quarantine can feel lonely. It was evident both of them missed companionship and shared learning.”
‘I said, ‘Ask me anything!’ My 7-year-old niece was quiet and hesitant. ‘Is he going to be like this forever?’: Mom of autistic child offers support,’ Know there are so many of us with you’
“My sweet boy wasn’t talking, and he was growing increasingly frustrated. His sensory sensitivities were unpredictable. I do know I avoided saying ‘yes.’ But I couldn’t say ‘no.’”
‘I knew the test was positive before they even called. I’m FaceTiming him from the other side of the house, just to tell him I love him.’: Woman asks for prayers after healthcare worker husband’s COVID-19 diagnosis
“My husband is suffering. He’s about as sick as I’ve ever seen him. He doesn’t ask those people if they think Covid is fake, or who they voted for. He doesn’t ask whether or not they can pay their bill. He doesn’t care. He just wants to make them well. And in caring for others, Ian contracted COVID-19.”
‘Finally,’ I thought, ‘I’m going to get SO MUCH DONE!’ I burnt out, and I burnt out HARD. My husband sat me down. ‘What’s going on with you?’: Woman urges ‘take each day as it comes’
“I started snapping at my family and avoiding the few social Zoom meetings I was invited to. I was gripped every day by a threatening cloud of anxiety of ‘not getting enough done’ and ‘not taking advantage of this time off.’ My husband sat me down on the couch. ‘What’s going on with you?’ I dove right in.”
‘I was the foster kid no one wanted. The feeling of those thin garbage bags felt so heavy in my small hands. I’d close my eyes and dream of a real bedroom all my own.’: Girl lives her ‘fairy tale’ after adopted from foster care
“Suddenly my biological father, who was unfit to care for a child, received custody of me. I got on a plane to go across what felt like the world to live with someone I could barely remember. But my saviors didn’t give up.”
‘Her husband came home. ‘There’s something very important we need to talk about.’ I was jealous of her life. She seemed to have the perfect family.’: Woman urges ‘nobody has it all figured out’
“I sat there, rapt, as she began to deconstruct every assumption I had about her life like someone unraveling a sweater. She was desperate. Her husband had come home and said he had something very important to talk about. Layla was so sure he was about to admit to cheating with his favorite employee she burst into tears.”
‘I was in Target buying essential items. She drops the bomb. ‘Will you take a newborn baby tomorrow?’: Foster care mom says ‘it’s never simple’
“I told my social worker that we can’t do it this time. We said goodbye to a baby in late November. But that night I cried. I cried for a baby that I’ve never met.”
‘My teeth were turning yellow. ‘Mommy, why are you so tired all the time? You don’t get out of bed.’: Mom battling depression says ‘I am living proof it gets better’
“When my mom walked in and saw me with the pills I had found, scattered across the bed, I knew I had hit rock bottom. I couldn’t even look her in the eyes. I remember sitting in the hospital, my whole family waiting outside. ‘I feel like nothing ever gets better.’ I am living proof it gets better.”
‘I realized it was Mother’s Day only two days before. It felt extra special to dress up in honor of their mother.’: Dad of 7 who forgot Mother’s Day says ‘you worth celebrating every day of the year’
“I got stuck in the Coronavirus time-warp, realizing it was Mother’s Day only two days before. This year, the kids really wanted to do a fancy night. It felt extra special to dress up in honor of their mother. You are worth celebrating today.”
‘She almost died, then I was diagnosed. I made the commitment to change immediately. I needed to be there for her long-term.’: During quarantine man says ‘I am blessed I had a wake-up call to focus on my health’
“It took my wife Shelly’s freak accident for that to change. I need to be here for the long-term. I am blessed I had a wake-up call to focus on my health.”
‘You should get up before your kids.’ I’ve tried it your way, but I’m a night owl. My brain functions best around 10 p.m.’: Mom pens ode to night owls, ‘We are just as valuable’
“My house gets cleaned at 10 p.m. That’s when my lists get made. That’s when I have all my ‘bright’ ideas. When I find myself up before the sun, all I want to do is cry and stare at the wall and go back to sleep. I can prepare for the day just as well at midnight.”
‘I don’t want a fake smile or a forced, ‘I’m doing okay. How about you?’ You can leave that ish at the door.’: Woman claims ‘real sisterhood is created in the trenches’
“I want you to tell me that some days are easier than others. I want you to tell me that some days are happier than others. I want you to tell me that, some days? Some days you just don’t know how you’ll ever push through. Sisterhood is created in the trenches.”
‘He hugs his teacher, the only attention and connection he will receive for the day. He eats school lunch, the only meals he has.’: Teacher explains why ‘schools are irreplaceable’
‘When I read the recent comments by influential and powerful people who want to make wholesale changes to education because we have ‘all this access to technology,’ I get upset. Schools are essential.”
‘The executive told me, ‘I’m not here to help another white girl save Africa.’ This was NOT the life I had anticipated.’: Woman creates global movement for non-profit hospitals, ‘This is the life I was meant to lead’
“I saw dozens of smiling infants, cooing and adoring the hospital caregivers they know as ‘mamas.’ I witnessed an orphan, who we found in a diabetic coma, now thriving. The 6-year-old, who was severely emaciated, weighing only 9 pounds, now fully recovered and walking.”
‘She said, ‘It’s your dad. There’s something wrong. The cops said they found him on the ground.’ We still had so many questions.’: Woman details life with drug-addicted father, ‘I’m not mad at you’
“‘You need to stop what you’re doing or you’ll end up dead.’ I’d see him drive by with another woman. When my mom decided to divorce him, he didn’t show up. We stood at the court house and looked out the window from the top floor. The doctor approached my brother and I. ‘You have to make a decision to let him off the machines.’ We still had so many questions.”
‘I started seeing burnt foil and spoons around the house. Money and valuable things went missing.’: Woman married to meth addict for 6 years shares powerful plea for sobriety
“It’s looking for him in the early hours of the morning while the kids sleep in the car, praying I don’t find him dead on the road. It’s being quiet in the house because he claims there are cameras everywhere and people standing outside the window watching our every move. It’s tucking my kids into my arms and saying sorry over and over again. ‘Maybe this is his last one, just maybe.’”
‘The lawyer called, she wanted him back and the papers were already signed. I knew we’d be saying goodbye.’: Couple credits birth mom for saving almost failed adoption, ‘The bond between us made this happen’
“Were we selfish for not wanting him to be taken from us? We couldn’t blame her. She didn’t REALLY know us. She said to us: ‘You asked me to trust you, now I’m asking you to trust me.’ You could hear a pin drop in that room.”
‘When you cry in the night, I head upstairs. I hold you longer than I need to. The last time is coming.’: Mom cherishes the ‘lasts’ as her youngest baby grows up
“I’ve rocked in this rocking chair at least a million times. It is the perfect size for a mama and one little baby. I smile at you a little wider than my worn out face should be able to. I know these days will end.”
I’m A Doula To Hold Mothers, Not Babies
“Mothers so often come last.”
‘I am not sure how you do it.’ More than one child is rushed to the emergency room at once. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure either.’: Special needs mom births 3 children, fosters and adopts 8 more
“After having my own accident that caused a permanent disability, I had to advocate for myself and my kids. 8 of 11 of them are special needs. There are many days I want to pull my hair out, but I never look back and think, ‘Why me?’ I am forever grateful to be their mama.”
‘My husband said, ‘Emmy go put on your Elsa dress, I feel like dancing.’ Minutes later, he came down the stairs dressed as Anna!’: Dad surprises family with Frozen dance during quarantine, ‘Even through a pandemic, he keeps us grounded’
“I’ve been sick for over 3 weeks with what we suspect is COVID-19, so my husband has had to stay home to watch our kids. Today, I have fallen in love with him all over again. He truly will do anything in his power to make us all smile.”
‘I see you spend day after day raising your sweet babies, aching to get her reassurance you are doing it all right.’: Woman pens touching letter to ‘the mother without a mother’
“I see you aching for those phone calls, those visits, those reassurances, those moments. I see you thinking time and time again, ‘If only I could call mom right now to ask her.'”
‘My innocent son was already born a stereotype. He has to fight to prove his worth, because of his skin.’: Mom and son run in honor of Ahmaud Arbery, ‘Don’t turn a blind eye’
“Today I cried heavy tears. Today I ran with my 9-year-old who has no clue how cruel this world can be. One day, I will have to explain all this to my compassionate and loving son.”