“I was confronted by a family member with two large garbage bags. It was a relief I’d finally been caught. I’d wonder how I had gotten a fat lip and had blood all over my face, the night before team pictures for my 5-year-old’s soccer team.”
‘My son got into trouble. He was missing for days and taken into custody. There were countless sleepless nights. I wasn’t sure how I’d make it until morning. But, I did. I would be okay.’
‘You need to go to the school and get them. It’s already in the news.’ My phone was flooded. ‘This isn’t real. He has to come home.’: Firefighter dies in accident on way to fight fire
“I doubled over. I couldn’t lift my arms. My head felt heavy as it rested against my knees. My dad opened the door and immediately covered me. I felt the moisture of his tears against my cheek. I approached the very tall, soft-faced Chaplain. He had the saddest eyes I’d ever seen.”
‘I asked if she was OK. She smiled through faint tears. She thanked me for giving her these moments back. She told me how lucky I am that I get to do this every single night.’
“She babysat, and SHE thanked ME?!”
‘We got pregnant before marriage. I was told, ‘Your marriage is going to fail.’ I felt hopeless. I told my husband, ‘I just can’t continue anymore.’
“I felt like I was not giving my children the life they should have. In that moment, I felt trapped. So, my husband went into our bedroom and found the loose change that he had been collecting for a few years.”
‘Mom, he’s our baby, he’s all of our baby!’ I came down with a stomach virus. ‘Have you taken a pregnancy test?’ I laughed. She knew our infertility journey.’: Woman’s surprise pregnancy after adopting 2 sons
“I immediately called Justin. ‘I think I may be pregnant!’ He asked, ‘Why on earth would you think that?’ I said, ‘I have a positive pregnancy test in my hand.’ He asked, ‘Well, how accurate are they?’ I thought, ‘I have no clue! I have never gotten a positive before.’”
‘Mason attempted the choking challenge he saw on social media. It went horribly wrong. Nothing could be done to bring Mason back.’
“You choke yourself to the point of almost passing out, and then stop. It’s supposed to create a type of high. We are devastated.”
My Mom’s Groceries Fell Out Of Her Trunk, So A Kind Publix Manager Re-Bought And Delivered Them All
“They printed my mom’s receipt, went through the store and got all her groceries, bagged them, threw in a fresh baked apple pie, AND delivered them to our house.”
‘The ER doctor came in. ‘This is normal. It’s what happens when you are pregnant. It’s called morning sickness.’ I felt so stupid for coming, but I KNEW it was more than that.’
“I had to leave work early, or run to the bathroom throwing up so much I felt like passing out. Friends would say, ’But you sit at a desk for work, it should be easy for you.’ ‘You can’t complain. You should have just gotten your tubes tied a long time ago.'”
‘I didn’t feel like a 20 year old. My doctors didn’t know how to help me. Their best advice was for me to ‘just get pregnant.’
“I was always told that period pain was ‘normal’ and that I just have a low tolerance to pain. I once had a doctor tell me, ‘I don’t think you are in that much pain, I think you are looking for attention.”
‘My husband left me after going into a depression. He just kept saying it was ‘his problem.’ He decided this life, our life, wasn’t for him.’
“He was stuck in a marriage he didn’t want to be in. The night we separated he told me he loved me but, ‘Not in that way’ anymore. He told me not to cry, he couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t breathe.”
‘He was always disappearing. I created a picture-perfect life for others to gawk at and admire. I didn’t want to be alone.’: Single mom says leaving her abuser was the ‘hardest decision of my life’
“The changes in his behavior were subtle. The flirting and flattery mutated into backhanded compliments and criticisms. If I ever questioned his behavior or cruelty, he would dismiss my concerns. ‘I was just joking.’ ‘You shouldn’t be so sensitive.’ ‘Can’t you take a joke?’ I spent all my energy trying to impress him.”
‘Did you give her that hickey on her chest?’ I had a low-cut dress on my husband likes. ‘No, she had cancer. That is her scar.’ Sadly, it didn’t end there.’
“My husband and I were on a date. One of these women leaned over to my husband and asked him this question. Then, the ladies told me I should ‘get a tattoo to cover up my scar.’ I have to tell you, they got to me.”
‘I woke up with the worst pain. ‘They’re just headaches,’ I said. Something in my mom’s heart kept pushing. ‘There’s something in your brain,’ the doctor said. I was 11, and so confused.’
“I was rushed to the PICU. I tried to stay calm, but I was terrified. I couldn’t help but think, ‘How could I have done anything wrong to deserve this?’ I hid everything behind a smile, but I knew my life would never be ‘normal’ again.”
‘We went to ‘suicide high.’ I still can’t wrap my head around it. My sister was close to the crew of kids killing themselves. Every time the doorbell rang, I was terrified she was next on the list.’
“I was nervous. We approached her. ‘Hey, do you remember me?,’ my sister asked. ‘How could I forget a troubled soul like you?,’ she replied. ‘Thanks for being the teacher who saved my life. I needed to tell you in person.’”
‘Dad was always giving. I knew it was time to return the favor. As he dropped his head on my shoulder, tears rolled down both our faces.’: Bride surprises dad with homage to childhood during father-daughter dance
“When planning the wedding, I knew I wanted to do something to surprise my dad. I held him as he dropped his head on my shoulder. He put his hands on my cheeks, as he had done so many times before.”
‘I got my bags in the car. ‘Don’t worry, I’m NOT going to come home wanting to adopt.’ My husband shook his head. I was so nervous, I was going to puke. I wasn’t sure WHY I was going.’
“It was a normal Tuesday. I looked down to see them calling. ‘They will have his visa ready on THURSDAY!’ I replied, ‘Like in 2 days, THURSDAY?’ Tears started streaming down my face. ‘WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?’ I couldn’t speak. All I heard was, ‘Book your flight. Go get your son.’”
‘I am a people-pleaser. I’m a mom of 3 boys and a teacher and that, homies, is busy enough. ‘Can we swap so I can get a quick run in?,’ I asked my husband. But then, I got the text.’
“I got a text asking if I would make it to a meeting for Vacation Bible School leaders tonight. Um, what? This wasn’t in my phone alerts, on a Post-it, or scribbled on a calendar. I completely dropped the ball, and I handled it like any other mature 40-year-old. I cried. I lost it.”
‘People told me to get a second opinion because there was ‘no way’ I could be diabetic. I wasn’t ‘fat’ enough and I didn’t eat enough sugar, so the doctor HAD to be wrong.’: Girl finds out she has Type 1 diabetes after years of feeling sick
“After telling them all my symptoms, they put me on hold. When they picked back up, their voice seemed urgent. ‘Go to University Health Services as soon as they open in the morning. Don’t wait for an appointment. Don’t eat or drink anything for the rest of the night.”
‘He had the Stanford medical degree, not me. I trusted him. Aren’t we supposed to believe the doctor? I was home alone when I got the call.’: Woman receives unexpected cancer diagnosis after colon surgery fallout
“I decided that day I was going to take my life. I knew I couldn’t survive chemotherapy and breast cancer alone, and I was too prideful to really ask for help. I decided killing myself would do my family and friends a favor. I was a liability, not an asset. I had gone from being a thriving mother, model and athlete to a sickly woman needing constant care. My life had crumbled.”
‘My husband was living a double life. I found YEARS of mail in his trunk. He changed the locks, abandoned me in a parking lot.’: Woman re-marries ‘amazing’ man she met on blind date, says ‘love always wins in the end’
“He had another daughter I didn’t know about. I did some digging and found empty pill bottles and beer cans in his car. The car that drove my child to daycare. At 32, I had to move back in to my childhood bedroom, so ashamed of myself. My daughter and I tried to make the best of our ‘vacation’ as I called it. My husband was an addict and con artist, and I got duped.”
‘STEFANY! Are you out with someone else? Don’t you love me anymore? CALL ME BACK!’ Finally, I went home. ‘We have to break up.’ He starts sobbing. ‘Who is HE?!’ Something in me snapped.’
“He picked me up in his fancy car. Rented us a beach front hotel with a balcony. We had our first kiss. It was perfect. When I got home, one of his friends tried to warn me. Told me to be careful.”
‘Is he gone?!,’ I yelled. It wasn’t my husband. He was so excited to be a dad. He was born to be one. I held his hand, telling him how much his unborn son and I loved him.’: Wife loses husband right before giving birth
“Scott just started a new job. We bought a house and were moving. He started not feeling well, but we attributed it to the stress of everything changing in our life. He went to work after getting me settled in the hospital. When he came back, he looked pale. I told him to get some rest, I would be just fine.”
‘Someone at school told me you’re gay.’ I couldn’t keep this secret any longer. I poured my heart out to her. I thought I’d lost my friend. Until my phone pinged. ‘I like you, too.’
“We hid, for months. People started to suspect our relationship. We were pelted with rocks while waiting for the bus. We were spat on. Soon, her mom found out. They moved her 10 hours away. I barely had any contact with her. As the train arrived on the platform, she was waiting for me.”
‘Motherhood is not a funeral to your old life. You don’t need to mourn it anymore. What makes ME happy? No more guilt.’
“Do you ever sit down at the end of the night, after wiping down another counter, and think, where have I gone? When the only time you have to yourself is the 5 minutes you lay in bed utterly exhausted and fight to stay awake to just have one minute, one second, to be yourself again. Do you ever miss the old you? Me too.”
‘An hour before our flight, I got a text. ‘WATER BROKE BRING CAR SEAT!!!’ We couldn’t believe it! We were off to meet our baby boy. ‘I have news. Call me back,’ she said on the voicemail.’
“We waited in the parking lot, for hours. She ended up getting sick. It was a very contagious infection that ended up spreading to the baby. My husband cried. He couldn’t believe people were so kind.”