“My husband was about to leave for his weekend trip when he felt my forehead was scorching hot. I felt so cold and feverish. The next few hours were a fog. My treatments were deferred. I was too weak.”
‘The nurse approached me with a pitying look. ‘You won’t be receiving your treatment.’ I cried hot, silent, angry tears.’: Woman urges ‘live life to the fullest’ after brave battle with breast cancer
‘She dressed up that 200-pound body. She bought it new clothes. Her confidence oozed out of her.’: Woman reflects on self love, ‘I am going to love myself without losing weight’
“Which was confusing because I weigh 200 lbs. I am not glowing. I am not treating myself as someone who should have a new wardrobe.”
‘We were cleaning out her desk and found two sealed envelopes. I ripped the bandaid off.’: Bereaved mom finds Valentine’s notes from late daughter, ‘Her heart was pure gold’
“I wasn’t ready to go through her room four days after her death. We opened them up and they were Valentine’s Day notes for Jordan and I from Kinsley. I haven’t had much to say. Those words from her were so powerful.”
‘She told me, ‘Find someone who loves you as much as I do.’ Raising children on your own is no easy task.’: Widower says ‘I will not look in the mirror one day and see a lonely old man staring back’
“I push my needs down to the bottom of the priority list. I beat down the fears with mantras like ‘one day,’ ‘when the kids are older,’ and ‘if it’s meant to happen.’ Raising children on your own is no easy task.”
‘The other day I thought, ‘I miss hanging with my girls,’ while scrolling through photos. A light bulb went off.’: Woman’s hilarious solution after virus ruins ‘much needed girlfriend time’
“This weekend I had a Sunday Funday drive with my friends. My husband is kind enough to not ask questions.”
‘It’s the worst possible time to have a child.’ The virus was expected to peak right on our due date.’: New parents welcome rainbow baby in the midst of global pandemic
“You try so hard for something and finally get it, only for a global pandemic to strike. Life certainly seems to have a sense of humor.”
‘He asked, ‘Can I stop by my high school?’ I pulled up to an empty parking lot. He just wanted a chance to say goodbye.’: Mom to senior says ‘you will always be remembered’
“As I sat in the car watching him slowly walk the lifeless grounds of his high school, my heart ached. I could see it in his eyes…all he really wanted was a chance to say goodbye. As a self-proclaimed ‘fixer,’ no matter what I do, I can’t fix this one.”
‘If you think you can get me to change this boundary, it’s not going to happen.’ Her face angry, she sulked off. I took a deep breath.’: Mom urges boundaries ‘protect us and others’
“‘This boundary will not move.’ She sulked off again. I figured we were in for another long day of boundary testing. This time, she came back after a bit.”
‘The midwife said, ‘You have to let her go.’ Her arms and legs moved around, as if she was searching for me.’: Couple lose baby due to missing DNA, ‘In her 50 minutes of life, we hope she knew nothing but love’
“I desperately wanted the pain and labor to end. However, I wasn’t ready for her to come out. I just wasn’t ready to let her go, for I knew it meant she would be leaving me. I remember half pushing and half trying to hold her back.”
‘During my daughter’s daily Zoom meeting, her classmate said, ‘I don’t like Chinese people because they started this quarantine.’: Asian-American mom urges ‘we are not the virus’
“What made it worse is that this person was one of her friends.”
‘MOM! WHAT HAPPENED?!’ The only reply was screams. Our boy was gone forever.’: Couple births miracle daughter with chromosome 17p duplication after nephew’s untimely death, ‘My guardian angel sent me the baby I’d always wanted.’
“My husband came to my side and scooped me up from the floor into his arms. He asked me what happened, but I couldn’t say it. ‘My boy…,’ I told him and trailed off. The pregnancy was confirmed just a week before his memorial service.”
‘We’ve known for over a year our sweet toddler struggles from the effects of alcohol during pregnancy. He’s one of the ‘lucky’ ones.’: Mom realizes ‘I am a special needs mom and it’s hard’
“I didn’t want to be that mom. Then, Covid hit and it closed our developmental daycare my 2-year-old attends. And things got real.”
‘I hid it so well from my parents and best friends. ‘How does everybody else do this?’ I lived in total denial.’: Woman with anxiety disorder says ‘owning your struggle makes you beautiful’
“Others around me began to catch on. I was vomiting constantly against my will and obsessively washing my hands. I began to lose weight and drink to ease my fears. I was covering up my secret for 10 years.”
‘You’re a horrible mother for taking your child to a hospital during Corona.’ My 5-year-old unexpectedly broke her bone.’: Mom says ‘I was bullied for bringing her to a hospital’
“I wiped down every surface my daughter touched with my can of Clorox. Then, I got out my camera and documented our experience.”
‘She squeezed my hand and mouthed her first words: ‘I love you.’ I started to sob. Tears were running into my N95 mask.’: Nurse gets touching thank you after COVID-19 patient survives 21-day battle
“She has been my patient from the first day our unit opened and was on a ventilator for 15 days. I stayed in the room for 15 minutes just holding her hand and sobbing. I feel my purpose of coming here was to save her life.”
‘I have ‘cuddle buddies’ of all genders. I have hugged trees and hugged myself. I admit, I’m a marvelous hugger.’: Advocate for physical touch says ‘things came to a screeching halt with COVID-19’
“We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”
‘I could feel the tears well up as she fell asleep on my chest. Our circumstances may not be ideal, but we’ve been given the most beautiful gift.’: Mom says ‘enjoy every tiny second of this blessing’
“I overheard my littles discussing when they would go to college as my newborn drifted to sleep on my chest with her sweet nuzzling. I felt a lump in my throat, and my breath was gone.”
‘I never thought it would come to this. My beloved grandma died when I was 22 weeks pregnant. ‘I don’t feel happy at all.’: Woman with postpartum depression says ‘admitting something is wrong was the first step’
“I closed the bedroom door and said, ‘I’m not here.’ The people who shouted the loudest before I gave birth: ‘I’m here to help you, I’ll come over and look after the baby, do some shopping, etc.’ I haven’t seen or talked to them since my baby was born.”
‘Would you be willing to take in a 7-year-old boy during quarantine?’ I knew it was a risk, but I also knew all he needed was love.’: Single adoptive, foster dad says ‘my house is not a blessing unless it’s shared’
“I’d spent weeks protecting my son and I from this virus. We had no clue where this child had been or who he’d been in contact with. ‘But where will he go if I don’t take him in?’ All the offices were closed. I knew it was dangerous, but I also knew all he needed was someone to love him.”
‘A stranger asked, ‘How many children do you have?’ I froze. I couldn’t utter her name. We weren’t prepared for her not to come home.’: Mom of baby born still urges ‘my daughter isn’t invisible’
“My partner was by my side, holding my hand as I screamed and pushed. My midwife still told me how well I was doing. ‘I’m so sorry, your baby has died.’ A part of me died, too. We weren’t prepared for her to not come home. I was a mother of two, but the public only saw a mother of one.”
‘She melted into me and really let it all out. ‘IT’S NOT FAIRRR,’ she cried hard. At that moment, she was all of us.’: Mom comforts daughter through big feelings, ‘Life as she knew it was taken away’
“She had been looking forward to this Jell-O. She had really, really wanted it. In a split second, everything changed. My 3-year-old was all of us today.”
‘Food was for ‘growing boys.’ I would take an empty lunch box to school so I looked like I fit in.’: Woman overcomes lifetime of eating disorders, ‘I love me for me’
“I was a talented singer, but because of my looks, I was never picked for the lead. I wasn’t the pretty leading lady in Mary Poppins – I was a chimney sweep. One year, I was asked to sing for the lead role but stand in the wings out of sight, while another person acted.”
‘I went into my late wife’s inbox and found some humbling words she wrote about what I meant to her.’: Widower thanks late wife after finding lost emails, ‘You helped me all these years’
“I haven’t cried in quite some time. But tonight, I did. It was as if I could hear her voice, something I haven’t heard for so long.”
‘My card declined at the grocery store. I stood outside my car door, ready to jump in, when a car pulled up next to me.’: Mom drawn to faith by random acts of kindness, ‘I’ve been getting signs for a long time’
“As he walked by he said, ‘Hey, I’ve been told to tell you to listen to 89.9 FM.’ I cried. Well as best as I could.”
‘I was ‘too flirty’ when I wanted to be with friends, ‘too uncool’ when I wanted my family. All I had left was him.’: Woman escapes abusive relationship, ‘Now, I know the importance of loving yourself first’
“I was told time and time again, ‘Nobody will love you as much as I do and you’ll never find someone else who loves you as much as I do.’ And I believed him.”