“Here we were, both married, raising children, praying, volunteering, and fully engaged in our own lives –– living about 2 miles away from each other. Despite our proximity, we would hardly see each other. We were 44 years old, and made a commitment over a pinky promise. I’d say that’s pretty serious.”
‘This doesn’t make any sense!’ I made a proposal. The only valid excuse for backing out would be death. Otherwise, we show up.’: 44-year-old best friends vow over a ‘pinky promise’ to remain connected
As A Deeply Religious Christian, I Will Love My Son No Matter His Beliefs
“My teen son recently came out as atheist. All I had to say was, ‘I could not be more proud of the man you are becoming.'”
‘We turned off the lights in the classroom, closed the blinds, and laid quietly in the corner. I was so scared.’: 9-year-old recounts ‘chaotic scene’ hiding in classroom after Saugus High School shooting in Santa Clarita
“‘This is not a drill!,’ their teachers yelled. My daughter answered the phone. Her voice shook as she described a chaotic scene. ‘We were outside lining up. I saw my teacher running toward us in high heels. Then she yelled at us to run to our classrooms.’ She is just 9 years old. She and her friend grabbed hands, darted into the nearest classroom, and peaked through a crack in the blinds.”
‘You better stop, or we’ll haul you off to the loony bin with the REAL crazy people.’ My father was in a drunken rage.’: Woman overcomes eating disorder from childhood trauma, ‘I’ve found strength to set that baggage down’
“Conditions at home reached a fever pitch. My father was laid off again, my grandmother moved in with her hoard, and I became sick. I tried my hardest to suppress that cough, barricaded with my little brother in my room, holding him back as the sounds of my father’s drunken rage filtered from the kitchen. My grandmother turned cold, hateful. ‘You’re old now. You aren’t cute and you have a bad attitude.’ The chaos was too much to bear. So I stopped eating.”
‘Why bother? Nothing’s left of my life.’ I was a washed-up, homeless veteran injecting meth into my arm.’: Veteran launches organization to end veteran suicide after battling addiction, ‘Your life is worth living’
“I was injecting up to a gram of meth a day into my arm. My only concern at that time was my next high. That’s how I dealt with the war. It nearly cost me my life. Something inside me broke. Suddenly, I wanted a purpose. There, I found my redemption.”
Our Children Need Mental Health Breaks Too
“Our kids hit a mental wall, and it is important for us to teach them how to slow down.”
‘How could you do this?’ I look at your Facebook profile before I tell your mother you’re dead.’: First responder shares heartbreaking practice to humanize victims, ‘I owe it to you’
“You’re a nameless body. I know nothing about you. We’re trying desperately to save you but right now, all I am is mad at you. Maybe you were texting, or popped a Vicodin at the campus party and should’ve Ubered. In 5 minutes, I’m about to change your mom and dad’s lives. So, I pick up your faded driver’s license, flip to Facebook. I owe it to them to remind myself it is a person I’m talking about.”
‘Watch what you eat. Work harder in the gym.’ I started purging. To be better means to be smaller.’: Young woman overcomes eating disorder, uses her recovery to help other young women change their way of thinking
“‘I feel fat’ was one of my most commonly used phrases growing up. Most people worry about zits and grades, I was worried about staying alive. ‘You didn’t fight for so long to just give into the eating disorder now.’ Six months later, a woman walked into the store. She lit up. ‘Oh it’s you, you helped my daughter!’ I had no clue who she was. ‘My daughter is the one you talked to six months ago!’ Not only was she doing better, but she was ready to share her story ‘like the girl in Lawrence.’ How proud it made me.”
‘It is ok darling girl, mummy and daddy love you.’ She took her last breaths in our arms.’: 10-month-old baby girl dies from incurable brain condition Miller Dieker Syndrome, ‘She had a life well lived’
“My husband said, ‘We want our baby to feel the sun on her cheeks, the wind in her hair, the love all around her.’ And she really did. Lily’s smiles are the best thing I will ever see in my lifetime. I know that. We cuddled her until she was gone. I was sobbing, crying out, ’my baby, my baby!’ We bathed her and spent one last night together. She looked so peaceful, like she was sleeping.”
‘Dad, it’s weird, but I think I pooped my pants!’ Minutes later, it hits me. OMG. ‘That’s not poop!!!’: Dad transforms into ‘the period fairy’ after realizing daughter is experiencing first menstrual cycle
“Today, I got THE CALL. So, I rush to school, bring her a change of undies, and rush back to my conference call. Hours later, she calls. ‘Dad, it happened again.’ At this point, I’m confused. Annoyed. ‘Just wipe your butt!’ Then, it hits me. I rush to the trash, inspect the undies from earlier, and scream. My child called for help and I just left her to die on the battlefield!”
The Hardest Work You’ll Ever Do Is Love A Nurse
“We come home empty. We don’t want to talk. But we need your understanding. We need to know you ‘get it.'”
‘A stranger came to the rescue. An older gentleman parked in front of the wrecked vehicle, standing in the storm.’: Woman shocked by stranger’s act of kindness, ‘this was an act of true heroism’
“I was able to clear my windshield long enough to witness the most brave act of service. I drove by in awe. A man willing to risk his own safety to safeguard someone he didn’t even know.”
‘What’s that? It could be something sinister. You might have a tumor.’ I got fired for being ill.’: Young woman diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome after countless tests, ‘I was getting sicker and sicker, but with no answers’
“I was sobbing in bed one night angry at God. ‘Why won’t you take the pain away?!’ I had worked so hard despite being unwell, pushing myself to achieve. I got the grades to study music, my true passion, but was too unwell to go! I was gutted. The emergency doctor uttered the word ‘stroke.’ I was in disbelief. I was only 19 years old.”
‘The moment I realized we’d be bagging our own groceries, I knew it wasn’t going to go well.’: Husband and wife arguing in grocery store makes them realize what matters in marriage
“She sees herself a a bagging expert, while I’m more of a ‘let’s just get it done.’ I told her to knock it off, and she told me I was doing it wrong. It would’ve been very easy for us to slip into a full-blown argument over how we bag groceries, which is ridiculous. Does this mean our marriage is failing?”
‘My Uber driver had tears rolling down his cheeks. ‘I wish I could’ve done more. Why couldn’t I bring her back?’: Woman shares touching moment with stranger, ‘You never know what hardships people have endured’
“John was my Uber driver to the airport yesterday. ‘My daughter died unexpectedly. She left behind a 4-year-old son,’ he said. ‘You remind me of her. You share the same kind heart.’ He couldn’t resuscitate her. He tried to breathe life into his daughter’s lifeless body, but he found her far too late. My heart melted into my stomach. We talked like we’d known each other our whole lives on our 25-minute drive.”
‘I jumped in as fast as lightning, pulling Levi up out of the water with a pale face and blue lips. ‘This can’t be happening!’: 3-year-old boy drowns while celebrating at grandparents’ lake house
“I yelled as loudly as I could, ‘HELP!!!’ Once the ambulance arrived, we had to answer questions. Still, to this day, I can’t hardly answer any of them. We were right beside him, and we never heard a sound. Never heard a splash. He wasn’t even near the water.”
‘I have breast cancer.’ I said on the operating table. The nurse wiped my tears. ‘I know. And we have you.’: Mom diagnosed with breast cancer 6 hours before giving birth to first child, ‘This baby saved my life’
“I sat in my 38-week OB appointment. I’d been told the lump in my breast was fibrous, and we’d watch it. But I knew differently. I felt it in my bones. I asked her to feel the lump. Her face said everything. My doctor called and said, ‘kiddo.’ I heard cancer, and my eyes became gushers. My husband held me. ‘Just cry. Just cry.’ Hours later, I was giving birth to my daughter. She saved my life.”
‘Are you sure he isn’t cold?’ His swim instructor constantly asks, concerned over his very blue lips.’: Mom emotionally recalls son’s severe heart disease operation, ‘I know every angel was watching over him’
“I had planned my son’s funeral. I had cried brutally painful tears which turned to moans because I had none left. That day, my life changed. I thought I had witnessed miracles in the past, but those were just test runs and rehearsals for this moment. I know when the anesthesiologist said, ‘We’ll treat him as our own,’ she meant it.”
‘I stared at the edge of divorce with a man I desperately love. He is not a mind reader.’: Wife says ‘perfection is not real’ in marriage, ‘It’s never too late to say I’m sorry, I love you’
“I am not a perfect wife. I get jealous. I’ve snooped through his phone. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. I have insecurities. I’ve been cheated on.”
‘That’s it, I’m moving out!’ It wasn’t a teenager yelling. It was me.’: Mom reaches her ‘breaking point,’ urges we’re ‘allowed to lose it sometimes’
“I just crack and act like a maniac. I yell ridiculous things at my people, get pushed to the Breaking Point. And once I’m there, I feel terrible for losing it. It doesn’t mean we’re bad people, just human ones.”
‘You’re a prostitute, right?’ ‘Excuse me?!’ I was catcalled in front of my 5-year-old daughter.’: Mom ‘livid’ after being harassed while running errands with daughter, ‘this is unacceptable’
“I was having a good day. I expected to walk up the block, finish my errands. From the corner of my eye, I saw an older man in a red sweater. ‘OW OW! How much?’ He could see my anger. ‘Sorry, miss. I thought you were a hooker. Your dress is so short.’ My dress was BELOW THE KNEE. The first thing my daughter asked when we got home was, ‘Mommy, what’s a pros-toot-toot?” I was livid.”
Dear Working Moms, Thanks For Teaching Little Girls They Can Achieve Anything
“I know it’s not easy. But we see you. And we–all your girls–are behind you.”
‘I have to tell you something. I’m so sorry.’ I burst into tears. I hated others being sad about our baby.’: Parents shocked by Down syndrome diagnosis after signing paperwork to not do genetic testing, ‘We are keeping the baby’
“This embryo was a fighter from the beginning – it took. Then I got a life changing phone call. ‘Your baby has Down syndrome,’ the nurse informed me. WHAT? We signed paperwork saying we DIDN’T want any blood tests. The nurse, in an effort to ‘bond’ with me, told me how she got pregnant naturally with twins. One of the twins died, and the other twin had Down syndrome, so she terminated. ‘We would have taken that baby,’ my husband replied.”
‘Will you excuse me?’ The cake smash was ready. Except, I was in my closet, crying uncontrollably.’: Mom breaks down at daughter’s first birthday party, discovers Cri Du Chat diagnosis
“This was her first birthday party. We had over 30 guests waiting downstairs to celebrate her. I couldn’t go down. I only had one thought: ‘This day is a celebration of everything she can’t do.’ In my closet, I huddled in a ball, trying to find my brave face. We were already 3 months into speech and physical therapy. We’d seen all 3 specialists and were no closer to an answer.”
‘Are you planning to have kids?’ At 28, my husband had a vasectomy in his first marriage. I felt robbed.’: Stepmom battling infertility laments ‘my husband ‘had it all’ with another woman’
“‘Everything will change when you have your own kids together.’ The comments stung. He had a vasectomy in his first marriage. I felt robbed. He had the young love. He married young. As we enter our 3rd year of infertility, will his first wife will be the only woman who will share this part of him? The part I always wished for? I made it ‘my fault’ we couldn’t get pregnant. I lied, covered up the truth.”