‘With all due respect to our veterans, we are doing a lot more than ‘just sitting on the couch and watching TV’ right now.’: Woman says ‘we are not in war, but we are surely fighting’

“Health care workers are risking their lives to save others. Businesses are shutting down. Grandparents are being asked to only see their grandchildren through windows and screens. Moms of littles must dig deep to find new levels of patience and creativity. We are not being sent to war, but we—all of us—are surely being asked to fight.”

‘I was 18 and so woven into the mind games I thought was ‘love.’ I couldn’t let go, no matter what I was put through.’: Woman emphasizes importance of self-love after abuse, ‘Learn to give yourself space to grow’

“I entered into the real world of adulthood without the slightest clue of what a healthy relationship looked or felt like. I was searching for that love I could create a life and family with, to make up for the experience I never had as a child. The first bite, that first taste. I all but derailed my entire life in my naivety.”

‘It’s probably just fluid in his ears.’ He had a huge patch of white hair and wasn’t reacting to sounds. ‘I hear Mila Kunis has it too.’: Woman gives birth to son with Waardenburg syndrome, ‘All I see is my perfect baby’

“Over the course of 9 months, it never once occurred to us there could be something wrong. The day before we left the hospital, a nurse casually mentioned, ‘Cooper hasn’t passed his mandatory newborn screening.’ I did a little research. By the time we got the diagnosis, I already knew.”

‘Due to COVID-19, visitors are no longer permitted.’ She was welcoming my mother’s first grandchild, and she was not there to meet him. It broke her heart.’: Woman assures ‘beautiful things are still happening every day’

“My nephew was born 48 hours ago at 34 weeks. After Liam was born, they were able to hold him briefly, until he had to be taken to the NICU due to difficulty breathing. Today was the first time that she was able to have her baby on her, skin to skin. My sister is far from alone in this.”

‘His lips formed the words, ‘No matter what, I want to marry you.’ This was happening. I didn’t want to wait for my forever with Alex.’: Couple ‘start their forever’ with social distance wedding

“We had plans of something great and big to be shared with everyone we loved. I never thought about what would happen to my wedding if a global pandemic struck. Honestly, nobody did. ‘What are you going to do?!’ His grandfather swung open the doors. The flow of love as our would-be guests blared car horns and waved signs broke me into tears immediately.”

‘Both our kids suddenly had a very high temperature. Then the dry cough started and in that second, I knew what we were dealing with.’: Siblings test positive for coronavirus, ‘Please don’t take this lightly’

“We are a fit and healthy family. We eat well. We exercise. The fevers didn’t come down even after meds. Then the dry cough started. I kept hearing, ‘Kids don’t get sick.’ The doctor came out in full protective gear and said, ‘They’re positive.’ Our kids had been symptom free and up to the minute they got so unwell.”

‘We have to cancel the wedding.’ In the midst of all the chaos, we thought, ‘What better place to start a marriage than inside our home?!’: Couple elope in living room after pandemic ruins wedding plans, ‘We wouldn’t have it any other way’

“Our RSVP count was 250 people. We looked forward to having everyone we love in one room. Due to the pandemic, we had to make the difficult decision to cancel. We were heartbroken. ‘Wait. We can postpone the wedding, but why postpone our marriage?’ This wasn’t what we planned, but now we wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

‘A month after my father’s death, I decided to give my 2 weeks notice. I need to sort myself out and return to my roots.’: Young woman reconnects to her heritage with DNA test and a refugee

“He died, suddenly. Unfortunately, after his death, his side of my family turned very sour. We lost communication. The only thing I had in terms of clues of where I was from, was the $89 DNA saliva test I took just four months before, and a memoir my Greek Grandfather, Papou, wrote before he died.”

‘They were dropped off sick with pneumonia. The oldest had underwear that had been worn for so long, it had fecal matter stains.’: Stepmom stands her ground against abusive ex-wife, ‘It breaks my heart’

“You want to talk crazy? She requested the judge order him to refer to her as his ‘wife’ and sleep in the same bed as her. It felt like I was in the twilight zone. She even refused to work or support her children financially. She didn’t let him see his children for over a year. It eventually tore my husband and me apart.”

‘The bus was the highlight of her day. She would confidently climb the stairs and hop into her seat.’: Couple buys real school bus for Autistic daughter, ‘The look on her face was worth all the struggles’

“We finally arrived at the location. We all got out and began talking over everything and went to get on the bus to get a thorough look at it. Braylee didn’t miss a beat. She hopped right into the bus, fastened herself right into the harness, and began singing loud and proudly, ‘Wheels on the Bus.’”

‘Why are you guys smiling? Don’t you take this seriously?’ We have no ‘normal’ at work. Every protocol we know is thrown out the window.’: Nurse urges ‘hug your healthcare providers, when hugging is safe!’

“We look around at our coworkers and wonder, ‘Who will get it?’, ‘How bad will it be?’, ‘How many patients will we lose?’ We don’t know what else to do but smile. We are trying our best to embrace this new reality-to keep our cool. Underneath, we are scared to death. We are scared, of death.”

‘Should we take our kids to China with us, or drop them in the US?’ The mood on the plane was somber.’: Expats make it back to China to begin quarantine, ‘We’ve been forced to realize just how lucky we are’

“We had fears and doubts in the back of our minds about what would be best for our family. It was in Dubai we discovered there were a few families in our gated community who had been infected, and to add salt to the wound, we discovered my daughter and I had picked up lice. The situation was almost comical at that point.”

‘To be fully honest, if I didn’t stay busy, I’d eat all of the quarantine snacks while standing in my kitchen staring at my phone.’: Quarantined mom urges ‘take it all one day at a time’

“Within a quick 24-hours, I became a full-time-working-stay-at-home-full-time-home-schooling-mom. I had no idea how it was all going to happen. Hell, I’d be happy with a general idea or suggestion of how this all will play out! I know we will figure it out, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to be a lot of building the plane while we fly it. And I have to be okay with that.”

‘I’m going to throw up.’ He looked like an unfamiliar creature. Everything I expected went out the window.’: Woman gives birth to twin preemies at 24 weeks, ‘We knew this would be the greatest fight of our lives’

“A nurse said, ‘Do you want a picture?’ I abruptly said, ‘No.’ I was trying to erase the past 6 hours from my memory. I didn’t even know if my baby would survive. Why would I want a picture or anything that would make me feel attached to this little creature? Baby B was barely alive.”

‘She handed me a bag and said, ‘We want to thank you for what you’re doing. You and all truckers working hard to keep our supply lines open.’: Truck driver ‘touched’ by stranger’s act of kindness during pandemic

“I pulled my truck off to the rest area. I noticed two girls about 7-8 years old climb in the back of a pick-up and pull out cardboard signs. I couldn’t read the writing, but they were jumping around, waving them excitingly at every truck that passed. As I began to pull out, their mom came running towards me, waving her hands for me to stop. I left with a lump in my throat.”