“How does a healthy 31-year-old man who had taken his 2-year-old on a bike ride the night before suddenly collapse 18 hours later? I was asked questions like, ‘How often did David faint?’ or ‘Did his lips ever turn blue?’ Zero. Never. None of that ever happened. But he still had a bad feeling.”
‘Collapsed? Was this a joke? Who was this man? Then I asked the worst question. ‘Is he breathing?’: Wife’s recalls ‘nagging feeling’ her ‘young, healthy’ husband had before his untimely death
‘Thank you for making me a momma, if even for 15 short months. One day, I will hold you in Heaven.’ Mom recounts harrowing birth experience with daughter, only to lose her months later
“As I studied her face, I thought, ‘Yes, it’s you! I know you!’ It felt like we had been reunited. Everything about her was so familiar. 24 hours of labor was completely worth this bright ray of sunshine that had entered my life. She passed away just 15 months later.”
‘She starts to gag. She is extremely pale with blue lips. Her pupils got really big.’ Little girl collapses while sister curls her hair due to bizarre Hair-Grooming Syncope
“Brushing, curling, braiding, or drying can cause nerve stimulation on the scalp and cause some children to have seizure like symptoms. Apparently very rare but so scary to see it happen!”
‘The kid never leaves home without his purse. He spends his money on makeup, and loves all things pink and sparkly.’: Mom supports her 10-year-old non-binary son and ‘all his fabulousness’
“By the time my son reached Pre-K, there was no denying he was truly one fabulous little guy. People have asked me for years if Sam is gay or transgender. My response? ‘Sam is a child, and if I have anything to do with it, he’ll be a happy one.’”
‘His leg was rapidly turning black. ‘Your son is the sickest kid in this hospital. We don’t expect him to make it.’: Mom shocked by life-threatening necrotizing fascitis after being told it was a ‘regular bug’
“He started complaining that his legs hurt and didn’t want to walk anywhere. The doctor said to give him Gatorade and Tylenol. His right leg started swelling up. ‘I don’t want to freak you out, but you need to take him back to the doctor.’ That ended up being the most important advice I have ever received.”
‘This soldier, who died in Afghanistan, was being flown home on our flight. I have never cried so much for someone I didn’t know.’: Man recalls ’emotional’ flight, airline captain’s act of kindness
“I sat down in my seat, and 2 minutes later, boarding was ceased by the captain to observe a moment of silence. I thought, ‘Now what?'”
‘My wife cut her wrists. I’m not ashamed, I’m not embarrassed. This is my wife, and she is dealing with pain.’: Husband unapologetically tells his boss of his wife’s trauma, struggles
“I was a child who was told to shut up when I cried. I learned to suppress deep inside. And it erupted like a volcano. I’m in a hospital bed because what I did was a cry for help.”
‘My son told me he got his girlfriend pregnant and they’re keeping the baby. He is 17, she is 16.’: Dad shows son just how ‘easy’ parenting is with clever simulation
“According to him, having a child is ‘really not that hard’. We tried to persuade him to look at other options, but he immediately shuts down any talk of the situation. So, instead, I have decided to teach him that kids are more difficult than he thinks.”
‘I was swimsuit shamed by my 5-year-old. At the pool, my daughter asked me when I was going to take my ‘dress’ off.’: Mom embarrassed by daughter for covering ‘thighs, fat, flab’
“I didn’t have it in me to tell her this was my swimsuit.”
‘It’s really bad this time,’ she whispered. ‘My sister kicked me out. The cops are involved. I’m so scared.’: Paralyzed husband and his wife adopt 19-year-old, only 6 years younger than them
“‘Emily?’ The sniffling voice on the other line was hoarse from sobbing. I sighed. A tearful call in the middle of the night could only mean one thing. She hesitated. ‘Will you and Chris be my foster parents?’ I was caught off guard. We were 23 and 24 at the time, and newly engaged.”
My Daughter Jumpstarted A Head Scarf Company For Kids With Alopecia
“We surprised her with a head scarf we’d made from one of her favorite paintings. Overjoyed, she quickly blurted out, ‘What about the other bald kids? We should make these for all the bald kids who look like me. Can we do that?’ Just like that, she changed a little gift into a mission I never would have dreamed up myself.”
‘Why are you still nursing her? Isn’t she too OLD for that?’ Mom shamed for breastfeeding 1-year-old daughter
“People are constantly telling you how you should feed your kids. When does it all stop? I felt the need to please everyone, all the time. I became a pleaser. For the fear of letting anyone down, I did whatever I could to make everyone happy. Meanwhile, I was losing myself.”
‘I came home around 2 a.m. Something wasn’t right. In a matter of minutes, my carpet was on fire.’: Brave woman recounts how she escaped domestic abuse
“I got pregnant and things hit the fan. He started disappearing. For DAYS. My tires were slashed. My window was smashed. The police rolled their eyes. When my neighbor saw me, she grabbed me and pulled me into her house. I was met with, ‘But you are so strong. You just don’t seem like the type.’”
‘Me at 19: ‘I’m pregnant.’ Him: ‘Get an abortion!,’ he exclaimed. My life was over. ‘Why would you do this to me?’ I felt a wave of fog fall over me.’
“I was working 80 hours a week. All the while, my baby daddy was partying and sleeping with other girls. I remember crying and feeling so close to death. Yet, this life was forming inside of me. I wanted to give my unborn child a chance.”
‘I sobbed as my husband picked up. He knew immediately it was a ‘no.’ We made plans of all the ways I’d ‘surprise’ him with a pregnancy announcement. This call was NOT part of our plan.’
“’Katie, is now an okay time to talk?’ It was our IVF coordinator. ‘Unfortunately, I don’t have very good news.’ I choked back tears, and thanked her. He had a total of 12 sperm. My husband hugged me and apologized. It was heartbreaking. Our doctor grabbed my hand. I looked at her in disbelief.”
‘As she opened the door, her eyes welled with tears. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. She was weak in my arms.’: Woman shares act of kindness for friend grieving miscarriage
“A month ago, my friend’s otherwise perfect pregnancy ended in a blood bath, and her saying goodbye to a lifeless version of her daughter. Her words, ‘She’s gone! My baby is gone!’ will forever ring in my head. Then, I received a text from her husband. ‘She’s not sleeping. Not eating. Please help me.’ So, I did just that. That’s just what friends do.”
‘Daniel may have trouble fathering children. He had a botched surgery when he was very young. As 18-year-olds, we didn’t grasp the seriousness of his male infertility. Then I realized something was wrong with me, too.’
“My husband’s counts had dropped to almost nothing. Six live sperm were found. Six! No six thousand. Just six. We got a letter in the mail. The yearly fee to keep his sperm frozen was due. It was hundreds of dollars. We had to make a decision about our future– right now. At 26 years old, I VOLUNTARILY had a hysterectomy. Then, we got the call.”
‘Lani, my baby girl. Please wake up.’ Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. I dropped to my knees and just screamed.’: Little girl survives go-cart accident, ‘She is embracing her new normal’
“I hear the engine shut off. My husband screams and the world stops. ‘I need mommy.’ The motor belt scalped the whole right side of her head, crushing her skull. She looked at me and said, ‘Mommy, the angels were with me.’”
‘I asked her when vacation starts. ‘In a week. I’m DREADING it. I already lied to my church and said Nicholas was 5 so he could go to Vacation Bible School.’ This warmed my soul.’
“One of my girlfriends called. We’ve been friends for almost 20 years. We sugarcoat nothing. Summer is NOT amazing. And if you ask your kids, it’s BORING. These vacation snapshots are the best 5 minutes of the day. The other 23 hours and 55 minutes are a complete cesspool.”
‘It was a long time ago. Get over it!’ The victim, I thought my family would hold me. Instead, I was blamed.’: Woman details healing journey after revealing brother’s sexual abuse
“I sent my brother an email. ‘I was a wake last night.’ He never came into my bedroom at night again. When it came time for my wedding years later, my mom insisted I do things ‘her way.’ She wanted my brother to stand beside my husband. We danced around it, but nothing worked. I had to tell her what my brother did to me. ‘How could you do this to us? You’re tearing our family apart,’ I was told. For years, I tried to navigate this deep, dark pit and find light. She threw me back into the dirt.”
‘Our birth mother had disappeared. It was alarming. I felt sick. It was very close to her delivery date. We anxiously awaited the call. This frightened me. We were in complete shock.’
“When we got the sonogram picture of the baby, it finally felt real. To see this tiny treasure inside of a tummy was so surreal. My husband and I were in contact with her weekly. Then, complete silence. My heart started pounding. It was like someone punched me in my stomach.”
‘He looks oddly pale,’ I said. I thought it was bad lighting. I felt him. Cold as ice. His father slammed the window shut. I couldn’t stop screaming!’
“Our truck had been broken into, so we packed up our son and went to a nearby shop. I took pictures of him sleeping in the car seat as we waited. That night, his father worked overnight. When he came home at 7 a.m., I heard him say the worst words you could ever hear.”
‘I had to wear a wig on my wedding day. ‘What’s going on?!’ my mom asked. ‘I don’t know,’ I lied. It was my dirty little secret. I was a prisoner of my own body, and I put myself there.’
“I had anxiety about what people would say to my son about my hair. Would he be teased because of me? I just couldn’t do that to him. I bought a wig and started an 18-year game of hide-my-hair. I couldn’t believe what I was doing to myself. Each day, I hoped no one caught me.”
‘After I delivered, my doctor handed me my girl. I did not see it. In all of my medical training, I could not tell. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. She was PERFECT.’
“I am a Southern girl and a doctor and I’m used to having it all together. I turned everyone away from the hospital that day, including my sister. I thought I had ruined our lives. I thought I had done something so terrible my husband and child were being punished.”
‘I woke with tired eyes, snappy replies. I had a mountain of laundry to start. ‘What if, for once, I wasn’t productive?’ I had this eager feeling. So, I did it. Disguised in active wear, I rented a five-dollar robe.’
“My husband and baby were gone. I shaved my leg fuzz, packed a bag, and drove to the fitness center. Now, don’t be fooled. I haven’t completely lost my mind and decided to partake in some sort of exercise. Let’s all calm down. No, no, no. This place has LOUNGERS, and ROBES, and a JACUZZI! Remember a jacuzzi?! Neither do I!”