“We may never grow to be empty-nesters. The words nonchalantly slipped from his lips, but they hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve never heard him say that. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever said it out loud.”
‘Hopefully she’ll gain some independence. BUT, but if she doesn’t, she’ll just live with us.’: Parents of daughter with special needs realize they ‘don’t talk about her future’ because it makes it ‘more real’
‘We have to deliver this baby immediately.’ Everything went black.’: Single mom goes unconscious during birth, wakes up to ask, ‘Who is this baby?,’ after life-threatening HELLP syndrome diagnosis
“I didn’t realize until that moment that something was terribly wrong. My OB came into the delivery room and sat next to me. ‘I promise you; everything is going to be okay.’ The next morning, I looked over and saw him in the bassinet beside me. ‘Who is this baby? Where did he come from? What happened?’”
‘One of the last texts he sent me read, ‘You are an absolutely wonderful wife.’ I lost the love of my life.’: Young wife ‘completely blindsided’ by husband’s death to addiction
“We slow-danced in our kitchen days before his death. He made me laugh, he made me smile. He made me feel whole. I am a 26 year old widow. I had no idea he had been using drugs.”
‘What, he’s sick of you already?’ My dad, my best bud, left. He allowed a younger woman to tear the family apart. He was no longer my dad. Instead, her husband.’: Woman overcomes childhood trauma, succeeds in school when ‘no longer under mother’s control’
“I realized at an early age that the only way I was going to escape was through education. I was accepted to every single college I had applied. She refused to provide them with her tax return so I could qualify for Financial Aid. I was crushed. But, I pushed forward.”
‘We were unpacking when I stumbled upon my old pregnancy test. Even after all these years, it’s still positive. My body was supposed to give my baby a safe home. Instead, it killed it.’ Woman claims it’s okay feel ‘anger, disgust’ with your body after pregnancy loss
“I felt a big lump in my throat. It was like looking at an old bouquet of flowers. Except, the flowers were dead, and the heartache still had this slight flowery aroma. I am part of a club. The club that no one wants to be part of, no one wants to discuss. I was called dramatic. I was told to get over it. But how could I? Your love for a baby is NOT defined by gestation age.”
‘I got a text from my son. ‘I’ve had Zeus for one whole night, and I’m already exhausted.’: Mom hilariously sits back and watches her son become a ‘dog dad,’ laughs at all his new ‘parenting’ responsibilities
“Who is Zeus, you ask? Great question, because I asked the same thing. Apparently, he has a dog. Not just any dog, but a Siberian Husky puppy. It’s cute and all, but if the dog is half as much work as my son was as a toddler, he’s totally screwed. In some ways, I want to warn him, but in others, my little black heart is smiling watching karma come full circle.”
‘There it was, staring me in the face. ‘Traits of a sociopath.’ I was not crazy.’: After years of lies, sex-addiction, cheating, woman leaves abusive husband, done pretending to be ‘a perfect family’ to the ‘outside world’
“On our honeymoon, we stopped for lunch. He sat down and looked me in the eye. ‘I have to go grab something,’ he said. There I was, 18 years old and 5 months pregnant, sitting in the Jack-in-the-box praying he would come back. I waited for hours, no sign of him. To this day, he’s kept where he went a secret.”
‘What’s wrong with your face? Fire? Car accident?!’ Complete STRANGERS asked. I reached my boiling point.’: Woman born with Nevus learns to ‘embrace’ her unique differences
“Kids were BRUTAL. I was called horrible things like ‘ugly face’ and told, ‘You don’t look normal.’ I kept the bullying at school a secret from my mother. I couldn’t handle it anymore. There was no internet; I thought I was the only one like this.”
‘The first time I fainted, I was 13. This time, I remember too clearly. My heartbeat felt like it was skipping. I started to sweat. My eyes went black.’: Woman finally diagnosed after fainting ‘hundreds of times’ with POTS
“The next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor with my mom and dad both overtop of me, staring at me with concerned expressions. When I faint, I lose consciousness, but the aftermath is always the worst part. I go into ‘autopilot mode’. I’ve ‘woken up,’ but I remember none of it. Everyone else would, though. They were always quick to tell their version of the story.”
‘She remembered the way they protected her. ‘THOSE ARE MY BROTHERS!’ she pointed across the courtroom, yelling proudly.’: 3 adopted brothers ecstatic to attend biological sister’s adoption day after ‘hopeless’ childhood
“My eyes immediately filled with tears, and I knew. I knew she remembered the way they fought to keep them alive. She remembered.”
‘Who wants a single mom with a deformed monster? NO ONE.’ Pregnant at 18, my abortion was the next day. A flip switched.’: Mom raises miracle son with missing limbs despite abusive partner’s pressure to terminate pregnancy
“Pregnant at 18, my abortion was the next day. A switch flipped.”
‘My stepdad locked me in a cellar. I was 3. My husband bought me diet pills for my birthday.’: Woman overcomes childhood abuse, addict husband to finally ‘get out of that darkness’
“He bought flowers, seemed to care. Then, he complained I had cellulite on our honeymoon. The church knew. According to them, a woman should ‘obey her husband.’ When girls don’t have a father figure, they’re not taught what to look for in a future spouse. My marriage was nothing like it seemed.”
‘Get him out! That’s Adam!’ He slipped off the ledge and tried to yell ‘Mommy!’: Mother shares ‘nightmare’ of 5-year-old son’s near-drowning in pool full of adults as warning for parents
“I watched as water and vomit poured out of his mouth, eyes swollen and rubbery looking. Then a miracle happened! He showed sign of life. ‘There he is!’ My baby was still with me! This was 100% preventable. This happened in a pool full of people. A pool full of ADULTS.”
‘Be baseball ready!,’ coaches yell. Each player squats down for 4 seconds before returning to shenanigans. Honestly his favorite part? ‘The snacks!’: Mom hilariously describes 5-year-old son’s ridiculous ‘zero attention span’ during T-ball
“For 20 minutes, these boys stand in the outfield waiting (hoping!) for a ball to get hit their way. Do you know what those boys are doing during that time? They’re looking at flowers growing in the grass. They’re kicking dirt around. They’re discussing the Paw Patrol episode where they save some big purple dinosaur. They give ZERO cares about the other team batting. Like, at all.”
‘I’d kill myself if I looked like you.’ Everywhere I went, I was the center of attention. I accepted that dying wouldn’t be such a bad thing.’: Man with venous malformation birthmark finds ‘happiness and confidence’
“My birthmark grew bigger and bigger. I got used to others pointing me out, whispering, laughing. Throughout my teenage tears, I avoided public places, family events. Any situation that involved people. I always put on a brave face, but in the background my confidence was constantly taking a hit. I couldn’t bring myself to face the world.”
‘I couldn’t focus on anything but this infant lying still in the bed. Stressed? Not the word.’: Nurse-in-training ‘overwhelmed’ by responsibilities, realizes keeping ‘peace’ is most important for the family
“Don’t let the baby lie in a wet diaper. Does she have a pulse? How many times does he breathe in a minute? Throw in 2 anxious parents trying to survive the scariest time of their lives, and 1 older sibling who needs Paw Patrol stickers ASAP, and you have a very long 12-hour shift. What else would I be responsible for? How about peace.”
‘My best friend let me in on a secret. She was receiving methadone treatments for a heroin addiction. ‘What?’ I was so young and naïve.’: Woman finally breaks cycle of toxic relationships to trust her ‘intuition’
“She finally went into rehab. Not long after, she disappeared. One day, I had a guest. ‘Maya!’ I was excited to see her. She was super off and shaky. She didn’t even come into the house, just stood at the door. Immediately my heart sunk. I knew what was happening. I told her I loved her. ‘Please call me when you’re better.’”
‘Erin, you look great! I can see SUCH a difference in your face.’ I appreciate the compliments, but deep down I’m hurt. People were judging my body before I made adjustments.’ Woman’s pain diagnosed nearly 2 decades after childhood car accident
“My weight went up and down. I refused to go into dressing rooms, refused to get clothes. When I got pregnant, I couldn’t help but worry about how much more ‘fat’ I was going to get. If you’re going to call me overweight, at least do it to my face so I can tell you what the HECK my temple has been through this last decade.”
‘It is never enough. You can see the loneliness in his eyes when he hugs us goodbye.’: Daughter’s ‘gut wrenching’ nightmare makes her realize just how lonely her elderly father is after wife’s death to dementia
“I had a nightmare. I was being taken to a home I didn’t recognize and into a room I had never been in before. I was in a wheelchair. My mom is telling me it will be OK. She is holding my hand, and I am crying. I tell her I want to go home, but she is telling me I am home. My heart aches for dad on the other side of the door, knowing he will lie there, waiting, for the next visit.”
‘I should’ve left my appointment, picked an outfit for a little boy or girl at the store, and surprised my husband. Instead, I found out our baby no longer had a heartbeat.’ Woman details shattering moment son ‘went to heaven’
“The nurse handed me a box of tissues. I remember pleading with my baby to be okay, my hand on my womb, tears running down. Immediately upon standing, I felt crazy amounts of blood trickling down my leg. I kept thinking that had to be everything, but I felt more released. A little boy. All ten fingers. All ten toes.”
‘You kids will be ok. I’ll be watching over you always.’ She promised to love our angel babies in heaven.’: After child loss, losing loved ones to cancer, woman gets rainbow baby only to be rushed into ‘emergency surgery’
“I felt so complete once my baby was in my arms, but unexpected tragedy struck again. This time, to me. After birth I was experiencing extreme back and chest pain. I thought it was just from breastfeeding and kept dismissing it. My gallbladder went haywire postpartum. My mom had to raise our miracle baby while I was fighting for my life. I couldn’t believe this was happening.”
‘Why do we lie and utter the words ‘I’m fine’ to our friends? I’m tired of hiding, and I think you are, too.’ Mom admits motherhood has served her ‘a big slice of humble pie’
“Today, I lost it. Finito. Buh-bye. GONE. I could feel my nerves fraying at the seams and in true me fashion, I cried. This is what no one tells you about. The hard stuff. If a friend shares her truth and says she’s in a funk, don’t tell her your life is sunshine and rainbows. Tell her you’re in the freaking arena with her.”
‘I saw a 3-year-old girl step onto a Las Vegas subway ALONE, and the doors were closing. I met eyes with a mom. Then, the subway bolted off.’: Woman recounts how ‘every mother’s nightmare’ of losing a child became reality
“The mom was gathering an unholy ton of luggage, and had turned away for just a moment. She looked up with absolute horror. People were suddenly shoulder to shoulder, crammed like sardines. I bent down to a sweet, terrified girl. Quiet tears fell before the shaking of her small sobs could be heard. There was no police. No security guard. No one, but her.”
‘There’s some students you never forget. Your daughter is one of those.’ Mother thanks daughter with autism’s teachers in emotional summer reunion
“When summer began, she bawled every day asking for them. I thought her heart might stop when she saw them; mine sure did. She ran through that shop and jumped into their arms.”
‘Did she want another woman in her life? I waited to meet my stepdaughter for the very first time. My heart pounded as she stepped in the car.’: Woman says there’s ‘nothing natural about a blended family’
“Trying on my wedding dress, I sensed tension with my boyfriend’s daughter. My mind raced, and I pulled her aside. ‘I’m not trying to replace your mom.’ I never expected to start a family like this.”