“I made the decision to keep the baby. As word spread, I could no longer bear going to school. I gave birth, terrified. My nurse had been a teen mom. She stayed with me the entire time. ‘I see something special in you, you can do this.’ In that moment, I knew I was going to be a good mom. For you Ella, I would do it all over again.”
‘I’m pregnant,’ trembled out of my mouth. I was 16. My mom looked at me with shame, told me to move out.’: 16-year-old teen mom works 3 jobs to make ends meet, graduates nursing school with honors
‘Pack your stuff and leave him.’ I should have never said this. She fled 300 miles from her abuser and never made it home.’: Mom raises awareness about domestic violence after losing daughter
“My poor baby was found with finger marks around her throat. Her phone was factory reset. The apartment smelled of bleach and ALL her clothes were washed. He tried to hide her laptop and stole personal items. Yet, he was only charged with drug trafficking. And here we are, living a life sentence without our girl.”
‘The whole night he didn’t leave my side.’: Woman thanks Marine stranger for ‘tackling me, covering me from the fire’ during Las Vegas mass shooting to ensure her safety
“He looked at me and said, ‘We have to get out of here. We can’t stay here. It’s not safe.’ We just started to run.”
‘My son’s school had a ‘Heroes Parade.’ My son went as Mr. Rogers.’: Mom praises Fred Rogers for being a ‘truth teller’ and ‘trailblazer,’ leading the way children like her autistic son
“‘I like you just the way you are.’ Fred Rogers’ words strike such a chord with me because my son has a disability: autism. Fifty years ago, Mr. Rogers’ message was to ‘love thy neighbor,’ and five decades later we need to hear that more than ever.”
‘Everyone knows I’m waiting until 7 a.m. to get ‘the alcohol.’ 6 minutes left. Enter Shirley, my cashier.’: Woman’s unexpected run-in with 2 Walmart employees leaves her ‘humbled, choked up’
“Everything was running smoothly until she came upon my bottle of wine. Apparently, they don’t sell alcohol until 7:00 a.m. She said I could wait. After all, it was only 23 minutes. ‘Mmmhmmm, she’s waitin’ on the alcohol.’ I started waving and threw in some ‘hey’s!’ But then Shirley started telling me about her life. I began crying in line.”
‘No big deal, what’s a poopy diaper? I start to change her, and realize it’s a poop-trophe. I’m not panicked, grab the wipes.’: Mom’s hilarious play-by-play of cleaning up daughter’s disastrous diaper blowout on playground slide
“She’s going down the slide, butt naked, COVERED in poop, leaving a long skid mark of poop allllllll the way down on her way.”
Police Officers Are People Too—No Training Can Prepare Us For What We See
“The next time you see an officer, or any first responder, remember that they are people first and there is no training in the world that prepares them for the things they see and do on a daily basis.”
‘The officer asked, ‘If you’re a nurse, why are you with a junkie?’ They searched for ‘evidence.’ My person was gone.’: Woman says love of her life died of addiction because of ‘shame, stigma’ surrounding the disease
“I baked cheddar scones — they were Jared’s favorite. I took a nap. When I awoke, it was dark outside, and he wasn’t in the house. He said he’d gone out for air. When he came back, he went straight to the bathroom, yelling at me to ‘mind my own business.’ He never talked to me like this. His voice dripped with anger. I don’t know why, but I listened. I got in my car. When I came back, the washing machine was running. He’d started my laundry. I walked through the kitchen and that’s when I saw him face down in our living room.”
‘Are you willing to foster a teen?’ I was 19, male. I didn’t think I’d be taken seriously.’: Man who grew up in foster care adopts 3 children, ‘I want them to grow up loved’
“At 19, I moved into my own place and worked like a dog. I felt unfulfilled, but wasn’t sure what I was missing. One day, I picked up an employment newsletter. There it was. ‘Become a Foster Parent Today. Must be 18.’ A month later, I got a call asking to take in a 7-year-old boy. Imagine my surprise to see a white child waiting for me at the supermarket! I was internally panicking. I’d never interacted with a white child before and had no clue how to care for one!”
‘I know this is weird because you don’t know me, but you’re adopted right?’ I replied yes. My heart ached for this girl.’: Teenage adoptee catfished by woman claiming she was placing baby for adoption
“She wasn’t Callie. The pictures she sent weren’t her. The pictures of her baby, weren’t her baby. Things weren’t adding up. Details changed, intuition came in. She agreed to let us see her real face. The voice we’d talked hours to was coming out of someone we didn’t recognize.”
‘When so many of our friends are choosing divorce, we’ve held strong.’: Wife says she promises to love husband forever, ‘as long as he makes a few promises’
“I know it can seem like we’re miles apart, even though we are under the same roof. There isn’t much time left for just us. But I want you to know, I promise to always choose you. It’s always been you. So, what do you say… can we make some promises?”
‘Is your husband deaf, too?’ No, but he’s the most patient man I’ve ever met.’: Cancer survivor marries ‘hearing husband,’ claims ‘hardships’ make her ‘glad to be born deaf’
“Yes, I’m deaf and my husband can hear. He reminds me when I leave the water running because I can’t hear it, or when my car is making a funny noise. He makes all my appointments over the phone. The amount of times I’ve said, ‘Huh? I have no idea what you’re saying,’ are endless. But I seriously couldn’t do life without him by my side acting as my ears and being my person. He makes me glad to be born deaf.”
‘A complete stranger came up to us. ‘Yo, what are you doing?’ He was a man, of course.’: Woman worried stranger ‘might have a gun,’ is ‘sick of being scared of men’
“We didn’t want to talk to him, and we said so. He responded aggressively. ‘Chill, I just wanted to see where you were going.’ Sara responded, ‘No. We are busy and don’t want to talk to you.’ He persisted. ‘You don’t look effing busy.’ In the middle of an upscale neighborhood, on a busy sidewalk, I was scared.”
Visit Your High School Friends, They’ll Guide You Back To Your Roots
“They are the ones that will remind you that true friendship doesn’t require much but means everything.”
‘How can I smile when Justin is dead? How can I ever smile again?’: Mom feels immense ‘guilt’ for enjoying newborn son after husband’s sudden death by ‘stray bullet’
“I remember the exact moment I first smiled again after Justin died. I’d cried so much, I was caught off guard when it happened. I was a new mom. Instead of celebrating a life, I was mourning one. Days after our son was born, he was killed by a stray bullet. My friend was next to me, ‘Honey, it’s okay to smile at your baby.’ I protested. But then I realized, ‘OH MY GOD, I’M MISSING OUT ON MY BABY!’”
‘Overnight, everything changes. I’ve lost my ability to work, exercise, heck, even drink coffee.’: Mom says motherhood is ‘hard,’ but hard is not ‘bad, wrong or forever’
“I don’t think wanting a shower without a baby crying or a meal with two arms is a horrible thing, and it certainly doesn’t make you (or me) a bad mom, or a selfish person, or even an unfaithful woman.”
‘To my ex-husband’s family: You didn’t have to continue loving me, but you do.’: Woman pens emotional letter to in-laws, ‘You’ve turned unfortunate circumstance into something beautiful’
“I was married before, to a man that needed to be rescued and saved. I realized in marriage that I’m no lifeguard. I could only rescue myself and my beautiful kids, and I did just that. I divorced. My in-laws, the first time you welcomed all of us into your homes I watched, mesmerized, as my new husband stood next to your family, enjoying each other’s company. It was a simple moment, but it took my breath away.”
‘We get a hotel, and we lay down a lot. After putting on comfy clothes and taking bras off of course.’: Mom urges other women to ‘take the girls’ trip to enjoy the ‘simple things’ like ‘naps in the middle of the day
“Take the girls trip. Vacationing with other moms is the best. We fall asleep at 8:30 p.m. and wake up at 7 a.m. because our kids messed us up that way. We don’t judge if someone had to FaceTime their kids loudly and we laugh hilariously when those kids get in a fight we get to hang. Up. The. Phone. And let our husbands deal with it.”
‘I used to bring my daughter to the office before we had childcare. She was only 8 WEEKS OLD!’: Mom ‘privileged’ to have employer who ‘allowed, encouraged’ her to bring newborn into work after maternity leave
“I second guessed returning to work after my maternity leave ended. Would it be worth it? But I had to go back. I finally expressed my anxiety to my manager. Her first response? ‘Just bring her with you when you come back! We can have an office baby!’ It was unbelievable. She can’t be serious! But she and everyone else in the office were so excited and supportive and ready for Baby P to join the team!”
‘My teenage boys carry a tampon and pad in their backpacks because gender taboo!’: Boy mom raising teen sons to ‘see past’ menstruation taboo, respond with ‘kindness, understanding’
“As I was driving one day, I looked at my boys in the rearview mirror and nonchalantly told them they should carry a tampon in case one of their friends had an emergency. ‘Bleed-throughs happen,’ I explained. ‘Kindness and understanding from ANY friend goes a long way. Be that person.'”
‘The baby is going to suffer. We can take care of this right now.’ They told me to abort him.’: Mom says she came to ‘peace’ with her son’s Down Syndrome diagnosis, he became a ‘warrior’
“’I don’t know what’s wrong, but please fix him!’ She was treating my son like a mole that could simply be removed and thrown in the trash. I knew I had to protect him. Handing him over to the surgeons knowing I may never see my baby boy again was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We are better people because of Eli.”
‘I was accused of murder. Twice.’: Mother of 6 recalls murder accusations brought against her after gaining custody of half-brother in wake of parent’s deaths
“My father signed over custody to me. The judge granted it one day before he died. We were settling into our new lives when I heard a knock at my door. A USPS worker handed me a certified envelope. I read the horrific accusations. Homicide. Someone is saying I murdered my father. Murdered. That I killed him. Me. His daughter. I hit my knees, sobbing, wanting to die. ‘This is it. I’m going to be arrested.’ I was petrified. What if someone actually believes this?”
‘Addie will never walk,’ they said. She took 4 steps at a time. ‘She is WALKING!’: Mom says her daughter is an ‘incredible miracle’ with a ‘fighting spirit’ despite Hydrocephalus diagnosis
“You don’t know God! You don’t know what He can do!’ I know doctors have knowledge, but maybe, just maybe, God has other plans. And they were wrong! I am proud of Addie and her fighting attitude.”
Dear Parents: This Is What Drunk Driving Could Cost You
“Look at this sweet girl’s face. This is what you could lose. It’s not worth it, trust me.”
‘Eff the PTO!’ I wanted to throw my computer against the wall. I was DONE. AA meetings? I stopped going altogether.’: Mom quits PTO to focus on sobriety, now works on ‘being present with kids’ instead of ‘giving too much’ to make up for ‘past failures’
“For 20 years, I drank. I missed birthdays, sports, parent-teacher conferences. My kids never knew if they were getting the calm, sober mom or the angry-drunk mom. Guilt ate me alive and my sobriety turned me into a new person: the yes mom. Volunteer as a coach for my daughter’s softball team? Sure thing! Soccer team needs a manager? Oh, me, me. I’ll do it! I was in over my head. I thought this PTO gig would make it up to my kids, but I was DONE.”