“I am a nurse at a Portland area Hospital. I rely heavily on my family to watch my son while I work my 12-hour shifts. But I am also so much more. I am a single mother to a 9-year-old boy. I am a daughter to a mother who has had asthma her entire life. No more hugs, no more kisses. I am making a sacrifice.”
‘Instead of seeing my son and potentially giving it to him, so he can give it to my parents, I just won’t see any of them.’: Single nurse mom says ‘I am doing my part, and I am now asking you do yours’
‘I read a status from a fellow teacher. She’d called all 175 of her classroom students, talking directly with 150 of them. We will not give up.’: Teacher working from home says ‘not even global disease can stop our passion’
“I miss my kids. I miss seeing them light up when learning something new. I miss their laughter, conversation, varying personalities, and energy. This is not what I had in mind when I decided over 10 years ago to be a career teacher. We’ve combined powers of cafeteria staff, custodians, aides, and bus drivers to travel home-to-home delivering hot meals to our people. We will not give up.”
‘Do you have any jobs available?’ I was laid off from a great position at a great organization. I had to set aside my pride.’: Woman struggling to find work during pandemic gets second chance at Tesco, ‘No matter what job you work, you are winning!’
“The shelves of the supermarket were bare. I sat for 2 hours, without an appointment, just waiting to be seen. I didn’t even ask how much I would be paid. I was desperate. With the virus getting worse, I was hearing less and less from agencies. ‘Maybe I don’t need to do this?’ I had a great position at a great organization, but all that was gone now. I had to set aside my pride.”
‘My spouse is a hoarder. In our old house, we had a shed that was his, and his alone. I didn’t dare go in his ‘man cave.’ Now, his hoarding skills have made him a hero.’: Wife recounts how hoarding husband turns to hero
“One of the things he insisted on keeping were a couple boxes of masks. MASKS. Not just any mask, but military-grade, N-95 masks. His brother had given the masks to family members after saving them from a surplus sale at Camp Williams in Utah. There were thousands.”
‘My doctor said, ‘Your vitals are remarkable.’ He wouldn’t test me. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.’: 22-year-old woman shares inside look at coronavirus after testing positive, ‘I want to bring awareness’
“I’m 22 years old and I tested positive for Covid-19. I wanted to be tested once the symptoms started like I should have been in the first place, but it was DIFFICULT.”
‘This was the last photo I took of Finn in a school. It’s all gone. His body language is an obvious expression that he did NOT want to be pulled away.’: Mom of son with heart disease says ‘you can’t have a lifestyle without LIFE’
“His teacher means the WORLD to him, the world. We had big plans for May 28th. Finn’s graduation from preschool and an adorable spring program that was planned. It’s all gone. He will never get to complete preschool. We had our kids at this school for 6 whole years and with one announcement, gone.”
‘Please don’t take him away from me.’ We were wiping down our phones, scrubbing our fingernails with hot soap. We put on gowns, gloves, and masks.’: Mom births 24-week-old miracle micro-preemie
“‘He’s breathing.’ That’s the first thing my husband, Myles, said to me as the doctor delivered our 1 lb. 14 oz. baby via emergency C-section at only 24 weeks. The nurses were running to his bed to manually pump breaths into his lungs. I went to the ER fully prepared to not hear his heartbeat. But every time I thought he was gone, there he was, his heart beating away.”
‘I have no desire to be a SAHM, no disrespect. I want to let my children sleep in, relax on the couch. I just wanted a moment to regroup.’: Working mom says ‘my children need me, but I need them more’
“I wanted another maternity leave. One without sore nipples, leaking breasts, crying babies, or daily trips to the NICU. I wanted ‘a pause’ on life. But then something changed. I took a breath and I began to see things through a new lens.”
‘A Chinese student of mine was cowardly assaulted for walking down the street speaking another language.’: Man urges ‘look after your Asian friends’ during pandemic after student assaulted
“The coward who attacked him, spewing racist trash and telling him to speak English, smashed a huge section of his cheekbone. He’s going to need serious and expensive facial reconstruction surgery to keep from losing the eye.”
‘This may come as a surprise…but we aren’t on a routine. My house is not a school. My children do work when they feel like it.’: Mom gives herself ‘grace’ during quarantine, ‘I don’t feel bad about it’
“I’m not homeschooling. The younger two have their packets and are completing them when they feel like it. We aren’t getting up super early, and we’ve watched more TV then we probably should. Because the truth is, this situation is the pits. Pretty much anything goes about now.”
‘I remembered there’s the most delicious donut shop. I got an idea. That night, I ordered 60 tacos.’: Nurse says ‘show a health care worker you appreciate they are out there risking their life’
“Going to work feels a little like going to war. Knowing the hardship restaurants are experiencing, I got an idea. That night, I shared my ‘economic stimulus donuts’ with my coworkers.”
‘You could have an abortion. At least save yourself.’ I was pregnant with my first baby, and planning his funeral.’: Woman encouraged to terminate baby with down syndrome, ‘We can’t control what our lives will bring us’
“A week later, I got a phone call from the abortion clinic to schedule an appointment. It turns out my doctor and his wife aborted their child with down syndrome because they thought he or she would become a burden. He thought I should do the same.”
‘I went from, ‘This is so blown out of proportion. What is wrong with people?’ to ‘What if someone I love gets this? What I get this?’: Woman says ‘it’s okay to not be okay right now, go easy on yourself and others’
“Why do I strangely feel like I am a character in a Stephen King novel? One minute, I think it will be over. I make jokes. The next minute, I’m having full-blown anxiety. It’s okay to not be okay right now.”
‘It can’t be bad, you’re young. You look fine.’ I questioned whether my symptoms were in my head.’: Single mom diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, ‘I don’t know what tomorrow has in store, but I’m ready to fight’
“I went from busy full days of work to barely handling the commute. I struggled to keep up with other moms my age. Misconceptions such as, ‘Young people can’t get it,’ and ‘You look totally healthy,’ infuriated me. It’s not just a disease for the elderly. I wasn’t fighting only for myself, but also my son.”
‘3 weeks after our trip to Disney, I stared at a black and white image with a mass that took up a third of my son’s brain.’: Dad urges ‘never take a day of normalcy for granted’ during quarantine after losing son to brain tumor
“We were isolated for 28 days in the hospital room. He was immunocompromised. Our world consisted of hand sanitizer, hospital masks, and surgical gloves to avoid contamination. As we watch the news, we hear the increasing mortality rates for coronavirus, some 3%. I would’ve given anything to hear those numbers for my son. Normalcy was ripped from our hands.”
‘My family and I live check to check. ‘The lady in front of you wanted you to have this.’ I start bawling my eyes out in line.’: Woman thanks stranger for act of kindness, ‘There are still great people in this world’
“I was standing in line with my cart. I only had $40 left to my name for 2 weeks and was about to spend $37 of it on this little bit of food. I tell my son, unfortunately, today I can’t afford it. He was upset. I went to pay for our things and the cashier handed me a card. I start bawling my eyes.”
‘If you want to go, we will let you. If you want to fight, we’ll fight forever.’ She didn’t want us to suffer.’: Mom loses baby to Pulmonary Atresia, Intact Ventricular Septum, ‘She made heaven so much bigger’
”I asked my Gramma once, ‘Why do day-lilies only last for one day?’ She just smiled at me and said, ‘Well sweetie, when you are that beautiful, I guess one day is enough.’ We woke up and headed to our baby’s room. We were greeted in the hallway by one of her doctors. ‘I don’t think she’s going to make it through the day.’ We promised to do whatever she wanted.”
‘I cried with you as you checked in, full of tears because your family could not join you. It’s the hardest thing to be doing this alone.’: Labor and delivery nurse says ‘we will be your cheerleaders in these uncertain times’
“Right now, labor and delivery units are on strict isolation, only allowing one or NO guests (not even the baby’s other parent) to visit during labor, delivery, and postpartum time. We want your cheering section to be standing at the window when we open it to show off your new baby. But what we want more than anything, is a healthy mom and baby. We are hurting almost as much as you.”
‘I called my ex. ‘You’re the one with sole custody, it’s your problem.’ The fact is, in this time of uncertainty, we are both her parents.’: Woman encourages co-parents to ‘work together and set differences aside’ during Coronavirus
“When he picked up the phone, I was surprised to learn he had been laid off a month before the Coronavirus took off. If this had happened a year ago or even 6 months ago, I would have a very different narrative on how this is going. I’ve literally heard it all. But I decided to give him a chance to help.”
The Devastating Reality Of Expecting Moms During COVID-19
“I went to my baby checkup today alone. My doctor and I elbow bumped through weary smiles. As soon as I got into my car, tears started rolling down my face.”
‘Today, my mom asked me for help. She asked me to send a plea. There is nothing left for those who need it most.’: Woman urges others to make masks for healthcare workers, ‘Support them so they can support us’
“The hoarding of supplies has been so bad there is nothing left. My mom is a nurse. So is my sister, my sister in law, my friends and cousins. She didn’t ever need anything from me…until today.”
‘Stop comparing yourself to Susan who completed 28 crafts with her 6-year-old. They won’t remember the lessons, but they’ll remember the time they got to spend with you.’: Homeschool mom says ‘you can do this’
“If all you did was feed your child fruit loops and sit on the couch to read with him, that’s equally as great. Odds are that 20 years from now they probably won’t remember half of the academic lessons you taught them, but they will remember the time they got to spend with you.”
‘He felt guilty even asking. Within 24 hours, every. Single. Shift. Was. Covered.’: Family of immunocompromised child thanks selfless firefighters
“Rob sent out an email to his fire department 2 days ago. He felt guilty even asking. A leave of absence would leave us without health insurance, and a child going through chemo. I can never accurately explain how thankful I am.”
‘The world feels scary, my baby—but being with you is exactly what I need. You’re the one thing I won’t have to wonder when I’ll see again.’: Mom ‘thankful’ for baby during global crisis
“Right now, it’s just you and me. And I can’t help but be thankful my constant is you. You are so little, and so are your worries. I hope to keep it that way.”
‘It wasn’t until I woke up that my wife and I both learned it was actually my 11-year-old son. It completely melted my heart!’: Nurse Dad says ‘the little things you are doing are so much bigger than you know’
“I got home from the hospital this morning with my basement couch/bed made and towels laid out and ready for my post COVID hot shower. It made my heart happy as I thought about the little things my wife is doing during her own isolation at home to make my life easier after a long night.”