“I noticed her stomach seemed very bloated, especially on one side. I asked family members to take a look – no one was concerned. The oncologist asked lots of questions, but one stopped us in our tracks. ‘Has anyone in your families had cancer?’ I looked at my husband, and he looked at me. In that moment, we both knew what she was about to say. ‘I’m so sorry.’ She had tears in her eyes.”
‘Her stomach looks too bloated.’ Her pediatrician agreed. ‘It does feel hard.’ I got scared.’: Mom witnesses ‘miracle’ after newborn’s cancerous tumor shrinks, says fighting neuroblastoma teaches you ‘you’re never guaranteed another day’
‘Having a baby won’t ‘fix’ your relationship. Oh, no. It will test you.’: Woman urges importance of being in a ‘solid relationship’ before having kids, ‘parenthood can break you’
“Your eyeballs are hanging out of your head at 3:00 a.m. while you’re looking at your partner’s worthless nipples. You’re on the couch, barely speaking to each other, thinking every noise is the baby waking. Scrolling through phones to fall asleep, you forget to say goodnight. Conversations were once everything. Now, they’re kept to the point because there’s just no time.”
‘You wouldn’t know, you don’t have a real sister.’ I was in third grade, when I suddenly stopped.’: Transracial adoptee declares she is ‘brown and deeply connected to her white family’
“I was squeaking down the linoleum hallway with my friend when she informed me with a smack of her bubble gum and a toss of her blonde hair that my sister was in fact, not real. As far as I knew, my sister was real. We had real fights. We exchanged real eye-rolls behind our parents’ backs. We slipped real ‘I’m sorry’ notes under each other’s doors after calling each other names. We were real sisters.”
‘There is no turning back. But are you kidding yourself?! Is this sustainable?’: Gay man marries ‘close friend,’ comes out to her years later, now happily lives in mixed-orientation marriage
“I knew my same sex attractions were not going away. I knew I was hurting myself. I knew I was hurting Aleesha and the kids. But it continued to be a secret. I never got caught. Until I came clean. I bawled. ‘So what now? Do you want me to leave?’ We were both sitting there crying, holding each other for dear life. I was surprised to hear, ‘No, never. You are my best friend. I need you to stay. We will figure it out.’ I expected to be kicked out. Yelled at. But none of that happened. I was shown love.”
‘Mom, I need you to know I love you. But I can’t do this anymore. I’m at a bridge. I love you.’: Mom recalls the ‘unbearable’ emotion learning of son’s suicide attempt, ‘I am NOT okay’
“‘Hello?’ My son was crying, HARD. I could hear a LOT of noise in the background… he definitely was NOT where I left him. It sounded like wind, or traffic??? ‘Where are you? What’s wrong?’ ‘Mom, I need you to promise me I can come home.’ Even in the pain I could hear my son in, I couldn’t promise him this… I couldn’t LIE to my son. He hung up. He wouldn’t answer his phone.”
‘Call 911! Grab the Epi!’ Her lips were blue, she was white as a ghost.’: Mom recalls dramatic moments daughter has allergic reaction to foods, urges ‘she deserves to not feel like a burden’
“There was signs everywhere stating, ‘Nut-Free facility.’ It was truly dreamy, until I watched a little girl approach us while eating a JIF peanut butter bar. I could have died right then. I notified the employee. He told the little girl’s mom, ‘This is a nut free facility.’ The mom did not care. Brynlee began breaking out in hives. Then she started vomiting. ‘If you waited any longer, she wouldn’t have survived.'”
‘Cody is homeless. I have not heard from him in weeks now.’: Mom shares heartbreaking, frightening before and after photos of her meth, heroin-addicted son
“This is my first-born child. These pictures were taken 7 months apart. That is how fast someone is affected. The face of heroin and meth. Cody, if you see this, please call us… we love you!”
‘Those poor girls. Gays shouldn’t be able to have children. You are going to hell.’: Gay dad ‘hurt’ by attacks on social media, urges LGBT youth ‘Don’t give up. Life WILL get better.’
“I remember lying in bed at night as a little boy, begging God to not let me be gay. Every single night I’d end my prayers with, ‘God, please don’t let me have nightmares, and please don’t let me be gay.’ My dad would call me a sissy and say, ‘Don’t act like a queer.’ When I finally came out, I was so scared. Her reaction was so matter-of-fact. ‘It’s no big deal!'”
‘She took her last breath in her daddy’s arms. She was absolutely beautiful, perfect. I wouldn’t survive.’: 18-year-old parents lose daughter at 20-days-old, says ‘you never get over it’
“‘There is nothing more we can do.’ We counted her tiny fingers, toes. She had my nose, and the most stunning blue-green eyes. We held her hand, stroked her hair. It was the first and last time my husband got to hold his daughter. The little girl whose name he chose. The nurse wrapped her in a white blanket and handed her to me. I took in every detail of her beautiful face, holding her tiny hand until all warmth was gone.”
‘Most of the house was gone. Two different firemen carried my boys down and a third came up for me while their crew broke windows and doors to put out the fire.’: Terrifying house fire leads family down a new life path
“I am writing this to you from the table of our tiny little space. In the room behind me our three beautiful little homeschooled boys are sleeping in bunks and my husband is telling me it’s getting late from our room on the other side of the living/kitchen/dining area. We could go out tomorrow and be approved for monstrous debt, we just don’t want it.”
‘I was diagnosed with cancer, 6 months pregnant, married, with a 10-month-old daughter. I was under attack.’: Mom refuses to abort child despite doctor’s advice, ‘It was up to me to make an impossible decision’
“After my first round of chemo, my husband left me. His family told me he ‘couldn’t stand by and watch the girl he loves, die.’ I filed for a divorce. After 2 more rounds of chemo with my daughter, she was born 6 weeks early. ‘I am leaving this hospital with or without your permission so I can spend Christmas at home with my two daughters.’”
‘You have to actually try!’ one parent laughed. Really? Making fun of little girls? Real adult of you.’: Mom ‘disgusted’ by rude parents’ comments at daughter’s soccer game, ‘These kids are 6 years old’
“There are no tryouts. Everyone is accepted. I’ve never been more disgusted by a group of parents in my entire life, the way I was last weekend at my daughter’s soccer game. They made fun of our girls from the get-go. 6-year-old’s. First graders! They don’t keep score! But these parents – they were relentless. Within 2 minutes of this game, I knew this would be a whole different experience.”
‘I’m mesmerized by your blue eyes.’ I laughed. It felt as if we knew each other 100 years.’: Widow shocked to find love after loss in stranger on a lake, is now pregnant and ‘forever grateful to be loved by two amazing men’
“When we started dating, I kept it a secret. I didn’t want to be judged. I was so worried others would say it was ‘too soon.’ I felt like I was cheating on Kyle. One day, it hit me. Kyle wasn’t coming back. It was okay to be happy with someone else. I am due just 4 days after mine and Kyle’s wedding anniversary. A coincidence by no means. I know he’s smiling down – he did that.”
‘I laughed out loud. Me? Cancer? I was 25. No way. My mom was going to pass out.’: 27-year-old in cancer remission urges it’s not ‘rainbows and roses,’ but she is ‘blessed to be alive today, that I can say for sure’
“‘I really think you should go to the ER,’ my best friend said as I winced in pain. For me to even consider the emergency room meant something was seriously wrong. ‘Kidney stones,’ I thought. A quick scan, morphine and some rest and I’d be on my way. I was wrong. I’ll never forget his name, Brian. The main nurse I had. ‘We need to do another scan, this time, one of your chest.’”
‘His hands are connected at his chest.’ We were in disbelief. He must have been making a mistake.’: Mom says son born with limb difference is ‘perfect’ despite differences, ‘We believe in miracles’ for his future
“My first glimpse of him was from a picture my husband had taken. His hands were at his chest, his legs were curled up tightly in a little yoga pose. He had 10 sweet fingers and toes, and I was in love. We were both in shock, the panic over doing what was best for him was all I could think about. The nurse put him on my chest. He was so tiny, and beautiful, despite looking ‘different.'”
‘He was looking at my new body in full light. ‘Rawr,’ he’d exclaim, flicking his eyebrows up and down.’: Woman embarrassed by postpartum body thankful husband ‘never slowed down in his affections
“My husband knew that while I dried my hair or slathered on moisturizer, I was perfectly comfortable with him coming into the bathroom to continue a conversation or tell me what I’d missed in the show he was watching. I never had an issue with him seeing my body, as I did unsexy things like brush my teeth. Until now.”
‘I’ll show up as the pizza man.’ He was committed from the get-go. ‘MY DAD IS ABDUCTING ME TODAY!’: Widow recalls ‘pizza man turned perfect father’ as new husband steps into dad-role for her adopted sons
“We paraded excitedly into the courtroom. The twins, in all of their manic glory, ran about, spun in the judge’s chair, making tons of noise. A shoe was thrown across the room. The oldest sat back and watched in amusement. When the judge asked each kid if he wanted Tom to be his legal father, all 3 responded ‘YES!’ He then turned to Tom and said with a wink, ‘No backsies.’”
‘Just Right Judith.’ Like a beacon in the night, she is there, dawning her yoga pants. This is it.’: Mom hilariously describes 5 types of ‘mom friends’ before ‘the floodgates of heaven open, and you just know’
“Ever notice how shopping for a new ‘mom-friend’ echoes a scene straight out of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’? One is ‘too hot,’ while another is ‘too cold.’ The hunt can be taxing as you search for the mom who is ‘just right.’ Just when you think you may have found her; the big bad wolf comes and whisks her away.”
How My Son Survived Shaken Baby Syndrome
“He will never want for love, attention, and experiences. He will never want for family. He will never lack the best care we can give him. He is my joy.”
‘Oh, you didn’t breastfeed? It’s cool, I thought you loved your child. That’s all, carry on.’: Mom’s all-too-real take on the relentless parenting advice forced upon mothers
“Rear face until they can drive on their own or reach 160lbs, whichever comes first. Wash your face every night and develop a good moisturizer routine so you don’t look like a worn-out hag tomorrow, but hurry, he’s got that ‘sex time’ look in his eye and you still have laundry. Did you floss today?”
‘We can’t be friends anymore. You’ve become ‘That mom.’ That’s a tough pill to swallow.’: 34-year-old Mom diagnosed with autism ‘couldn’t be prouder’ of creating a world where ‘differences are celebrated’
“I received comments. ‘Are you sure you want to move forward with testing for that diagnosis? That means you and your child would have that label and diagnosis for the rest of your life!’ ‘I hope you don’t become ‘that mom.’ I’m the exact person I’m supposed to be. It’s ok that I struggle. I have a reason. And I couldn’t be prouder.”
‘He waited for her to leave. I quietly gasped, covered my mouth. I realized what had happened.’: Wife brought to tears by dying husband’s final selfless act of kindness for their young daughter
“She cautiously hugged his leg. He wrapped his arms around her. ‘Hi, Daddy.’ He pulled her in tighter. I’m sure he was afraid his voice would break, or the tears would flow. She left, like I asked her to. By the time I made it back to his hospital room, he couldn’t breathe. I was confused. ‘He will not make it through the night.’ I shook my head. ‘Impossible.’ He was fine just 20 minutes before when our daughter was here.”
‘Which way did he go?’ This was our great escape. My dad was a monster. I was sworn to secrecy.’: Woman credits foster parents for ‘saving’ her through ‘dark times,’ battling suicidal thoughts, sexual abuse, Bipolar disorder
“My friend asked if I wanted to stay the night. I couldn’t, but asked if she wanted to stay at my house. Before I could even finish, she told me ‘no.’ I shrugged it off, no big deal. A week later, she saw my whole family. That’s when I recognized the fear in her eyes. She had not seen my stepdad since then.”
‘The words hit me like a truck, ‘Gabby fell into the pool and she isn’t breathing.’: Aunt urges parents to know pool toys give ‘false feeling’ of safety after niece’s near-fatal swimming accident
“I always called my mom on my way home from work, but she wasn’t answering, so for some reason I felt the need to call my brother, Tim. He was at a friend’s house swimming. I heard my nieces and nephews playing in the background. I never thought that would be the last time I’d hear Gabby’s little voice.”
‘How am I was supposed to break the news to my children?’ They didn’t have an answer. It was an accident.’: Widow describes ‘surreal, intense’ pain after husband dies from sudden accident
“’I don’t know what to do!’ I was woken up throughout the night by a little girl screaming for her papa. Waking up crying for my Ben. The reality was unbearable. I was staring at a life I didn’t want.”