‘My father would dress up for dates with other women as my mother cried, ‘Please stay. I’ll forgive you!’ He’d disappear weeks at a time.’: Woman claims ‘the cycle of abuse can end with you’

“His secret life became an open book. My mother would wake me at 3:00 a.m. on school nights to sneak my father’s phone from the bedroom. I’d translate endless emails he wrote to various women. He was unfaithful. She’d collapse at my knees and sob. One day, I walked into the office. I opened the filing cabinet and flipped to the very back. There, I uncovered a large yellow folder. My innocence was ripped away.”

‘He would literally fling his arms out from his body over and over again from morning until night.’: Parents shocked to learn of son’s PANDAS diagnosis

“We had absolutely no idea what was going on. His behavior was changing. He’d been in daycare since he was 12 weeks old and LOVED his school. Now he’d cling to us at drop off and require 15 hugs before we could – with him still screaming and crying- finally leave him. We assumed he was ‘going through a phase.’ I felt like we were ‘losing’ him.”

‘My stepdad always told me I was bad luck. I never fit into his picture-perfect family. To avoid fights, I’d lose myself in a book or math problem. School was my safe-haven.’: Woman determines what the ‘American Dream’ means for her family

“I didn’t care what school I went to as long as I could get away from home. I later dropped out of high school and started working the night shift at a restaurant. Weeks later, my school counselor called. ‘If I work something out with you, would you agree to come back?’ It was my second chance at life.”

‘A teacher called our daughter ‘lazy,’ put her outside, and forgot about her. We found her in full-blown panic.’: Mom creates ‘disability buttons’ for daughter with special needs, in tears after people ‘finally talk to her’

“My daughter called me from a store parking lot crying. She’d gone to the toy aisle and picked a Barbie. As she walked through the door, the security alarm went off. She was scared and didn’t know what to do. The security person came up to her abruptly and demanded a receipt. Her mind went blank. I watched videos online about a ‘special needs girl getting handcuffed’ at Walmart.”

‘The self-talk has to stop. Motherhood is not sunshine and rainbows. It’s mundane many days. I lose my patience. I screw up. I have unwashed dishes in the sink, crumbs on the floor.’

“There’s guilt. Pressure. Unrealistic expectations. How many times have you lain awake going through the to-do list of tomorrow while thinking about everything you didn’t accomplish today? All of the ‘should haves’ replaying in your mind. How are we ever going to get ahead when we are stuck in the guilt of yesterday?”

‘I dropped to my knees, a horrible sensation ripping through me. ‘My whole arm just went numb.’ Life changed in a heartbeat.’: Woman diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis II urges ‘surviving means finding hope on the bad days’

“I had never been a ‘sick’ person. I had only gone to the hospital for labor. I didn’t even have a cavity! Now, my kids were crying. My husband was on the phone with 911. I froze. ‘It’s happening again,’ I screamed. My arm moved wildly on its own. Everyone began to scramble.”

‘I laid in my hotel room bath, sunk my head underwater, closed my eyes. I wondered what life would be without me in it? I cried.’: Woman stresses importance of mental health awareness after abusive relationships, suicidal thoughts

“He’d be on dating apps talking about the women he’d hooked up with the night before. I still loved him. I’d confront him. ‘Why do you do this?’ It would always escalate into a big argument. Our neighbors called the police to our house because of the noise.”

‘During my pregnancy, my dad came to me in a dream. He was holding a baby boy wrapped in a pale blue blanket. He walked towards me. It’s the only memory I have of them together.’

“We had chosen to wait on finding out the gender until birth, but I knew when waking up that the little boy inside me would be a boy. I’ll never hear you tell him you love him or sing him to sleep. He will never see you on the sidelines, cheering him on. But I know you were taking care of him before it was my turn to.”

‘We were celebrating 3 years of marriage. I thought life couldn’t get better. Then, I got news no one wants to hear.’: Woman battling sarcoma cancer thanks husband for support, ‘It’s the most beautiful love I’ve ever known’

“Tears rolled down my face. I went to lie down again and the entire sequence replayed itself. I could hardly believe it. Just like that, we transitioned from ‘recently married’ to ‘patient and caregiver’ and there was no stopping it. We began writing funeral plans.”