“I felt like I was important and loved. A few months later, my mom took me to the doctor. I was pregnant, at 15 years old. He hit me in the back of my head multiple times but he took me to Taco Bell after, so he still loved me. Where else would I go anyway?”
‘My innocence was taken by a 19-year-old. We jumped into a ‘relationship.’ I let him take me into bed because ‘My innocence was already taken. Why did I need to pretend like I had it?’
Dear Society: If Your Friend Is Being Cheated On, Please Let Them Know
“If you love your friend, if you want to protect your friend, it IS your business. No matter what.”
‘If you EVER speak out, I know where the bullets are.’ I walked in the snow for miles in short sleeves. I woke up in the hospital, angry I survived, and pulled out all the hospital tubes.’
“I looked up from my bed and saw my mother and sister at the door. The look in their eyes is something I never want to see again. I feared that I had to be cured. I wish I had seen the warning signs.’
‘If you do that one more time, you’re going in TIME OUT.’ As soon as that door shut, she ran over to the couch. I thought, ‘Please get down. Don’t you know I’m the fun parent?! I do books, not time out!’
“Being a stepmom is so complicated. She’d only ask her dad for things. But then, hand-foot-and-mouth disease struck our house. My husband was down for the count – which left my stepdaughter completely reliant on me. Let the games begin.”
‘She was severely malnourished. ‘We don’t expect her to live very long in the orphanage.’ I was in it for the long haul.’: Woman adopts orphan into her forever family, ‘She became mine and I became hers’
“I knew the dangers of short-term volunteers going into orphanages and getting attached. ‘She won’t let anyone play with her. She’s very stubborn.’ But I was stubborn too. Our doctor took off his glasses and looked me in the eyes. ‘Have you considered pursuing custody?’ I felt the weight of his words. I was young. Really young.”
‘Your future husband is 2 years old. Will he tell me, ‘Mom, she’s the one!’? It’s hard to believe my place as his mother will be eclipsed by your place as his wife.’
“I will recognize my son’s loyalty is first to you. I will refrain from gossiping about you to family members. I will not harbor a grudge if you tell me, ‘I’m sorry, but we just can’t make that work right now.'”
‘Our child dumped his piggy bank onto his bed. He’s having a Mardi Gras moment, hurling coins like beaded necklaces. ‘You can’t jump off the top bunk!,’ he tells our daughter.’
“I crack open a tired eyelid to see it’s not even 6 a.m. The rain beating down on our roof is drowned out by the billowing coming from our kids’ room. I lose my cool. It’s been under an hour of complete chaos. This is when my husband and I shift from relying on each other, to turning on each other.”
‘Can you drop me at my relative’s house?’ I kissed him goodbye, bawling. Something didn’t feel right.’: Young mom recounts harrowing journey to single motherhood, ‘I’m my son’s world, and he is mine’
“He was so insistent on going. I thought I was just being paranoid. ‘What did I do wrong? What did I do?’ I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. At this point, I was heavily pregnant. Then, I got news from his family there were absolutely no relatives in the area I dropped him off. It was another woman’s house. I didn’t trust my gut. Just like that, he stopped calling and texting. He fell off the face of the planet.”
‘My dad told us, ‘Make someone’s day better.’ I watched him take his last breath. ‘Just because he couldn’t receive my kidney, doesn’t mean somebody else shouldn’t.’ This is for you, dad.’
“I was nervous and excited the morning of the surgery. This was finally happening! We could feel my dad’s presence in the room. We each donated to a stranger, for him.”
‘My dad began boarding up the windows for fear of people watching him. Spending nights in our attic filming neighbors. Insisting there was footage of a red laser being shined into his room.’
“My father was not a part of my life early on. He was successful businessman and wasn’t ready for a kid. But my mom was struggling, and he could give me what my mom couldn’t. Until he changed too.”
‘Let’s check on those babies just for fun!’ When he got the twins on the monitor, he was dead silent. My stomach dropped. Then my phone started to vibrate.’
“‘Mrs. Filcik, we got the results.’ I was on the floor in the middle of the hallway with tears running down my cheeks. The doctor asked, ‘Mrs. Filcik, are you OK?’ I managed to say, ‘Yes, I will be. Thank you for calling,’ before hanging up.”
‘I was told it was the ‘Cadillac of disabilities.’ His pediatrician even said, ‘Out of all the heartbreaking disabilities, his is also heartwarming.’ Down syndrome isn’t easy. We ARE special.’
“I’m here to call us out on all of our mild-mannered modesty. I’ve realized we ARE special, and we deserve that title. No, not everyone can do it. You are different. Your child is different. I am tired of wearing the martyr mask with an ‘aw shucks’ and a ‘not little ol me.’”
‘My friend is having her first baby the same month I lost mine. But you are NOT my trigger.’
“It’s baby season. I am honored to celebrate with you. I love attending your baby showers and purchasing those little newborn clothes. But we all grieve differently.”
‘Two blonde girls at the playground told my daughter she couldn’t play with them because she doesn’t have blonde hair. The girls’ parents did not intervene.’
“You better believe I did.”
‘I woke with a softball size lump on my neck. I couldn’t breathe. They looked at me like I had 3 heads. Without saying a word, the doctor packs the wound and sends me on my way.’
“I fell asleep. The blood from the gauze had dried to the pillow. When I rolled over, it pulled the gauze out of the fresh wound. I panicked. I went into the bathroom. This was the most insane moment of my existence.”
‘I’m A 34-Year-Old Woman And I Only Got Formally Diagnosed 2 DAYS Ago. I’m Autistic.’
“I seem fine and happy. They may think I’m trying to be like my child. Or that I am faking it. It’s a weird feeling.”
‘She made our dreams come true.’: Surrogate turns hopeful gay dads into parents
“We were instantly overwhelmed with love that we began crying! She gave us a family. It was the most powerful moments of our lives. There were a lot of revelations from this photo. ‘I didn’t like gay people before I saw your photo, and my mind is changed.’”
‘Did you have them all with the same partner?!’ I’m a mom of 10 under 10 years. If they only knew.’: 35-year-old mom shares the joy of having a large family
“We get asked at times whether or not we plan on having more children. The honest truth? I still get thrilled with each positive test.”
Why You Need To Put Your Relationship Before Your Kids
“Putting your relationship first doesn’t mean your children are last.”
‘My husband and I never planned on more children. The fear was too big for me to tackle. I lost two children. Anxiety washed over me as I faced the same exact surgery.’
“I am a mother to four. Most people only see one child standing next to me, or notice my one on the way. But strangers will never know my daughter is actually a triplet. Her brother and sister died 5 years ago. Rainbow baby. It’s a term I love, but sometimes despise.”
I Left My Abusive Partner And Traveled The World With My Baby—Here’s My Story
“Travel gave me back what one man almost completely destroyed – my confidence, and my heart.”
‘How can you love this man when he continues to hurt you?’ Little did l know, she was texting all of this to my husband and kindling a secret relationship.’: Woman discovers abusive husband’s affair with best friend
“My best friend pulled into the driveway of my home as I was packing. I started bawling my eyes out, sharing my pain. The door slammed wide open. She had been kindling a relationship with my husband behind my back and sharing all of my personal details and events with him. He threw me out of our house in my panties. I sat there, cold, alone, and numb.”
‘The phone rang at 5 a.m. ‘You need to come to the hospital. Your father is not doing well.’ My father? In the hospital? No way. He was a healthy, happy man. How could he be that sick?’
“14 years later, devastation struck once again. I lost my 19-year-old son in a tragic, earth-shattering suicide. The only comfort I have, is that my father was there to welcome him home. He was not easily influenced by peer pressure. Or, so we thought.”
‘I was taken from school to my last foster home. I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone. I didn’t know I would NEVER go home again. My parents had run out of chances.’
“I remember the car. The social workers wore suits, and the car was dark blue. I sat in the back. The child lock was on, and I felt trapped. When we arrived at the foster home, it was a place I had been in with my sister, but I still didn’t understand. This time, it was only me.”
‘His head was in his hands. ‘I ruined everything! Call the daycare. Tell them we can’t send the kids anymore.’ I used to hide in the bathroom to cry.’: Couple supports each other through job loss, ‘This too, shall pass’
“We had another baby, we were happy. Things were great, until they weren’t. I’ll never forget the day when I called in sick because of a bad migraine. An hour after my husband left for work, he called to tell me the bad news. He’d lost his job. He was crying, I could barely understand what he was saying.”