“We had already chosen our wedding date. We had booked our venue, sent out save-the-dates. The doctors encouraged us to move it up, fearing the worst. But we decided no matter what, we weren’t changing it. 3 weeks before, she lost her hair again. ‘I fell in love with you when you were bald,’ I told her. She was absolutely stunning walking down the aisle. I felt like the luckiest person in the world. Right before her 30th birthday, we decided to give up all treatment and enjoy the time we had left.”
‘Are we still getting married?,’ she looked at me in tears. She wanted to protect me.’: Man loses wife to stage 4 cancer months after wedding, ‘I have a huge hole in my heart’
‘It’s not where the work happens. It’s just our rest stop and place to refuel.’: Woman encourages others to realize church is not where Christians really need to be
“It’s in striving to understand and love those who see the world differently, and believe different things than we do. It’s in inviting those who are standing alone into our conversation, even if it makes you feel sweaty and awkward. It’s in standing up for what is good and noble and true.”
‘I’ve read your letter. Don’t worry, we’ll get through this.’ It actually meant, we’ll try to ‘fix’ you.’: Young trans man finds ‘strength’ and ‘identity’ while transitioning from female to male
“‘I am upset I won’t be able to walk my daughter down the aisle like I’d always hoped.’ They asked, ‘Why can’t you just be a butch lesbian?’ My great grandmother’s response when I walked in was, ‘Oh isn’t he handsome!’ All she wanted was to make sure I was happy. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.”
‘Stop telling moms they ‘have no excuse’ to not be skinny. Being in shape doesn’t mean I’m a better person.’: Mom claims we shouldn’t ‘feel pressured to punish our bodies’
“Oh, you lost all your baby weight and started exercising 2 weeks after giving birth? Great, but I just gave birth and my vagina in still swollen and bleeding. You have 3 kids and wake up at 4 a.m. to exercise? Impressive, but sometimes depression means I’m just trying to get through the day without giving up on life.”
‘Is this meal for a boy or a girl?’ My son is rough and tumble. But he also likes Barbies.’: Mom shocked by gender bias in McDonald’s Happy Meals, ‘Let the child choose’
“On our way home from the ER, I stopped to get my children lunch. The attendant asked me the usual questions. I have a child of each gender. Boys get Hot Wheels, girls get Barbies. My bruised-eye boy likes Barbies and playing with them doesn’t make him less of a man.”
‘You’ll never have to bury our kid’s father again. You can get through this.’ Little did I know.’: Woman loses 2 lovers to tragic accidents, says ‘becoming a mom’ is the best thing she’s ever done to carry on their legacy
“James called to tell me he would be a while longer, it was already getting dark. He said, ‘I love you kitty, I’ll be home late.’ I can see myself standing in the kitchen on the phone with him, I can feel the emotion like it’s happening now. When the phone rang around 11 p.m., I knew he was dead. It was happening all over again.”
‘I can’t do this,’ I muttered to myself. I was only 22, unmarried. I didn’t want my boyfriend to feel trapped.’: Young mother doesn’t believe she’ll be ‘punished’ for ‘having a baby out of wedlock’
“I was terrified, ashamed. I cared too much about walking around with a large stomach and no ring on my finger. My boyfriend and I had only been dating a little over a year. I’d been indoctrinated with the belief that what was happening to me was a sin that would tarnish me for the rest of my life.”
‘Oh my Gosh! I’m crying in Aldi’s! Please judgy cashier, keep walking past. Screw these bags.’: Mom caught off guard, brought to tears in grocery store after realizing she was ‘missing my partner’
“Clearly, I was not mentally prepared to grocery shop this morning. Something wasn’t right. The drive was short and quiet. I quickly got out of my car with everything I needed. Really, it was an Aldi shopping success…. until I reached the bagging counter. That’s when it struck me, why I was so off. For the first time in 9 years, I was missing my partner.”
‘By the time I was 3 months pregnant, I had enough, and he moved out. I was so mad at him.’: Woman admits she ‘wasn’t prepared for this’ after unexpected pregnancy, but has now ‘fallen more in love’ with her fiancé every day
“A crazy pregnancy monster entered my body and took over my brain. I felt suffocated. I didn’t like the changes that come with having a significant other around all the time. I missed my peace and quiet. I certainly didn’t like all the new ‘friends’ I was supposed to now have. I was having an out of body experience. Saying I didn’t love him, and I couldn’t do this anymore.”
‘I’m not scared to die. I’m scared to be forgotten.’ I had no words, just tears.’: 28-year-old widow gets sign from husband in heaven, ‘I’m okay Mama Bear, I made it, I’m now pain free’
“He was slowly beginning to wake. I couldn’t wait to see his big brown eyes. I wasn’t expecting the first thing out of his mouth to be, ‘So, how did things go?’ I still hadn’t come up with the best way to tell him. I knew I wouldn’t be able to lie. The room once again was silent. ‘Kyle, I love you. We will get through this together.’”
‘I’m a teacher. I’m his mother. How did I not know?’ I saw him crying at his desk.’: Mom shocked to learn her son is ‘profoundly dyslexic,’ urges other parents to ‘trust your instincts’
“I sat in the waiting room hoping a pair of glasses would be my silver bullet fix. Unfortunately, what I was met with is something I’m embarrassed to retell. Aiden wiped away tears. ‘You mean my brain isn’t broken?,’ he asked. ‘No buddy. Far from it.'”
‘I had a hard time clothing her. I was sure I’d break her neck.’: New mom recalls ‘mean, vicious cold days’ in throes of postpartum anxiety
“I had been placed in a small, windowless hospital room that was 80 degrees. I was rotating between sweating because I was warm to shivering from having cold sweats. The medicines from labor were messing with me. I tried to keep it together but whenever a nurse left my room, I burst out crying. There was so much paperwork to fill out. I was alone.”
‘The cancer unit? How’d this go from ‘Hawaii 5-0’ to ‘Fighting-4-Life’ in 24 hours? This can’t be right.’: Dad insists he’ll be ‘taking my family to the top, whatever it takes’ despite infant daughter’s Down syndrome diagnosis, then cancer battle
“‘I will not be leaving her side,’ I responded in the clearest daddy-bear tone I had. Dad’s on guard. It was the look in the new doctor’s eyes that told me, I needed to go. I kissed my perfect baby girl goodbye. I’m the bug being drawn into the glowing light of the bug-zapper. Like a true ‘lamb-to-the-slaughter’ walk.”
‘Prepare to say goodbye to at least 1 of your children.’ It’s inconceivable.’: Twin mom feels both ‘joy’ and ‘pain’ after 1 twin dies and the other survives
“It was the only time we had with her. We were able to hold her and see her sweet face, it was beautiful. ‘Everything happens for a reason. At least you have one.’ They are poking the wound. The gravity of what happened to us is too hard for people to imagine.”
‘You know mom, teachers should never be mean like that. It’s so bad.’: Mom shocked by young son’s ‘super tender heart’ after revealing her teacher bullied her
“I said, ‘You’re so lucky to have such a nice teacher. When I was in third grade my teacher didn’t like me. When my desk would get really messy, she would take my desk in front of the whole room and dump it upside down and make me clean it all back up.’ I thought he’d be shocked or mad on my behalf, but nope. ‘That’s just so sad mom.'”
‘MA’AM!!! Ma’am stop! Please stop! You forgot your baby in the car!’ I didn’t even realize she was talking me.’: Mom caught off guard when stranger ‘causes a scene’ in grocery store parking lot
“She thought I left my baby in the car. This woman was YELLING. She caused a scene, people turned to look at the commotion. To be completely honest, I didn’t even realize she was talking to me. As I was pushing the cart into the cart return, I turned to look at her. Oh. She was talking to ME. She was waving her hands and started running towards me! I felt horrified.”
‘No. It’s just a sinus infection.’ I demanded my husband get tested. A yelling match ensued. ‘OK, OK.’: Woman loses husband to Brain Cancer after ‘sinus infection’ misdiagnosis, ‘This is a never-ending healing journey’
“Ray, the epitome of health, awoke to a terrible migraine. I asked for a cat scan. ‘He is FINE,’ I was told. I knew in the depths of my soul something wasn’t right. 20 minutes later, the same doctor and 3 nurses rushed in. The door flew open so hard it bounced off the wall! The nurses ripped cords from walls, tossed his belongs on the stretcher. ‘Whoa, what’s going on?!’ The doctor, without even looking at us, said, ‘We found a mass. It’s the largest I’ve ever seen.’ He turned and left the room, never to be seen again.”
‘The man yells, ‘Look! These are yours. They fell out of that box. I’m your mailman!’: Woman hilariously recalls run-in with Amazon Prime deliveryman who picked up her ‘new butt’ underwear
“I saw a man walk onto my porch, then he bent down like he was hiding. So, I was like, ‘Hell no, you aren’t about to steal my Halloween decorations.’ I grab a baseball bat and the dog, open the door, jump out and literally yell ‘Freeze!’ The man stands up, and he’s holding a pair of underwear. I’m like, ‘You dirty old man, you’re on my porch smelling underwear.’ I’m out here swinging this baseball bat and he’s screaming, ‘Wait! Wait!’”
‘My diamond was missing. GONE. Instant panic. My heart started racing, hands got clammy. I was sobbing.’: Son’s touching gesture for mommy who lost wedding ring diamond showed her so much ‘empathy’
“It was a busy morning. I got the triplets ready, grabbed towels and sand toys, and headed out the door. We picked up sandwiches on our way. My husband was going to run in to pick up our food, but I told him I would because I had to pee. I ran in and ran out. We were on our way. Minutes after we were back on the road, I realized it. Instant panic.”
‘You said ‘had,’ I interrupted him. He looked at me and stuttered. He didn’t correct himself.’: Pregnant wife loses high school sweetheart in motorcycle accident, toddler son ‘asks for Da-Da constantly’
“When he didn’t show up after work, I began to worry. It was dark now, past our son’s bedtime. Finally, we found him. In the ICU of the hospital. I jumped out of the car at the ER entrance, ran to the elevator. ‘Walk, please!’ the security guard called after me. A young man finally came out to speak to us. He was talking in past tense.”
‘Mommy! I have to pee pee now!’ I was washing my face so I can’t open my eyes. He’s screaming.’: Woman hilariously recalls getting peed on by her son before annual physical at doctor
“I needed to be freshly showered for my exam. I washed everything and shaved my legs. When you’re going to get your pap smeared, you can’t just shower off. You got to do the whole 9 yards. Go for the full on, getting laid later, every nook and cranny shower. It was a mistake.”
‘Just marry me already.’ His body was falling apart. He didn’t have much time left.’: Veteran dies of aneurysms after hospital negligence, ‘No veteran should experience this’
“The cardiologist said he would need a stent for his aneurysm. My jaw dropped. ‘What aneurysm?’ I knew something was very wrong. We gathered all of his medical records from the past year. ‘You’re trying to kill my husband!’ Because of them, he was now fighting for his life.”
‘We need to get out now!’ A woman was beating on the chest of a body. ‘It’s too late, he’s gone.’: Security officer describes scene of Las Vegas mass shooting ‘utterly shocking, surreal’
“BANG! ‘This is actually happening!’ I realized at that moment, this is a real. He started to target where we were hiding. People were screaming. One woman in a cocktail dress asked, ‘Where can I use the restroom?’ as bullets flew over our head. Suddenly, it all got quiet. Deafening silence. I couldn’t call my fiancé to tell her I loved her one last time.”
‘Something is wrong. I’m scared, is everything okay?’ He told me to stop being so paranoid.’: Woman urges ‘trust your instincts’ after husband murdered
“My husband spent months telling me I was just hallucinating, that I was crazy. I’d run out to his car as he was leaving for work. Something felt very wrong. I later found out, I wasn’t crazy. Detectives shut the door after telling me of his death. I was humiliated I found out the truth the same night everyone else did.”
‘I wouldn’t have taken you out if I knew how big you were.’ I wanted to hide, from myself and everyone else’: Young woman undergoes weight loss transformation, ‘I’ve finally found myself’
“If I didn’t make a major change, I was going to kill myself — one bite of food at a time. I’d tried everything short of having an eating disorder and had no hope. ‘How was your surgery? Oh, you lost weight, how did you do it? You took the EASY way out.’ That last comment is one that hurts me. It hurt me then and it hurts me now.”