“It took nearly 2 days before a helicopter arrived. 2 days of freaking out in subzero temperatures. I spent the entire time in a room where various people would pop their head in to make sure I was still alive.”
‘I found myself gasping for air. It did not matter how much I tried to breathe in, it felt as if nothing was going inside my lungs. A few days later I developed a bit of a cough. I could have died while on the mountain.’
‘The doctor called…the blood screen came back, it’s not good.’ My heavy 22-week pregnant body fell to the floor. It’s normally at this point people want to talk about their options.’
“At worst he’ll never be able to feed himself and at best he’ll mop the floors of a fast-food restaurant one day,’ he said with a wave of his hand, dismissing any room for hope. Option 1 is you terminate the pregnancy. We don’t do that here, but we have a clinic we can send you to.”
‘I said ‘I don’t want to live anymore, my kids deserve better than this, I should have never had them and dragged them down with me’ I wanted a lifeline. I wanted that chance of hope.’
“But instead I got ‘you should feel so lucky! You are blessed.’ Imagine telling yourself you’re so worthless, you’re not deserving, that you literally mess everything you touch and feeling guilty for all of that, like a tumble dryer in your head, swirling around and then someone says, ‘be grateful’”
‘Yesterday we broke down 2 hours away from home on a busy interstate with three kids in tow. It wasn’t exactly ideal, especially with a hungry newborn. It was late, nothing was open, and we couldn’t get a rental car until the morning.’
“We called dispatch and AAA and an Alabama State Trooper showed up to help. I thought he was just going to divert traffic away from our lane, but he did so much more than that!”
‘When our son was 7 months old, we stumbled upon heroin. I never imagined my daughter would call another man ‘DaDa.’: Woman recounts losing partner to addiction
“I was covered in puke, knees scraped from the driveway. For 45 minutes I walked around holding my 3-month-old to my chest, just praying for a miracle. ‘We did everything we could, but it just wasn’t enough.’ I was living in my worst nightmare. ‘Can God give my Daddy back?’ Telling my son was the hardest thing I’d ever done.”
‘Zane got a call from a fellow soldier. He knew a young woman who was expecting a baby. She wanted a loving family for him. ‘We might be getting a baby!’ I was stunned, ecstatic, and terrified.’
“The day finally arrived. The doctor opened the door, popped his head in and said, ‘How about Monday?’ I glanced over to see her expression. ‘Sounds good!’ On the inside I was doing a full-blown happy dance. My thoughts were screaming, ‘That’s MY birthday!!! His birthday is going to be MY birthday!’”
‘I felt cold hands. He was a pastor. I laid there, stiff and mute, pretending to be asleep. ‘Get used to this. Your mom agrees it’s okay. It’s in the Bible.’
“‘I’ve gotten a vasectomy. That means you can’t get pregnant. You don’t need to worry about anything.’ He slipped 20 dollars in my pocket. ‘You’ve done good,’ he said. ‘We’re sending you back to your biological family.’ I was confused and afraid.”
‘My sister arrived to find me trying to clean up another bladder accident. She pulled out a pack of Depends. ‘Well I guess you WILL be needing these!’ I reluctantly took the pack from her, and put on the adult diaper.’
“I’m scared of finding out what’s really wrong with me; I’m scared of how fast my health is declining; I’m scared I won’t be able to be the super mom and wife I have been; I’m scared because I’m not able to work; I’m just scared!”
‘My psychologist said, ‘K, I think we need to stop. It’s clear you have so much trauma. I can’t believe you’re still here.’: Woman advocates for mental health, ‘We need to be there for each other’
“I was on a bus to work when the voice came back: ‘You should just cut yourself.’ It startled me. Then the nightmares started. I met my psychologist, a male. I told him about the stalking. I told him I watched my friend attempt suicide many times in front of me and saw death coming for her.”
‘This is a FINAL decision. Once I sign off, you cannot change your mind.’ They’re a sibling group of 3. 2 of them had special needs.’: Single mom adopts siblings out of foster care, ‘Mama’ is my most cherished role in life’
“‘Morning mama. It’s adoption day.’ Butterflies filled my stomach. The girls and I dolled ourselves up to reflect what was on the inside. Joy and beauty. We went to the courthouse. Then, my lawyer pulled me aside. There had been a miscommunication. My heart dropped.”
‘You should leave me.’ The words popped up on my screen. I knew my marriage was stressed, but I had no idea it was about to snap. Fear ripped through my gut. What was going on?!’
“I left the office early to get home and calm things down. He had been drinking. 6 years of sobriety gone in a flash. Then, he confessed to the affair. I was appalled. ‘Did you love her?’ ‘How long?’ ‘Why?’ That night was a blur.”
‘I cried when I told you. I knew it was my fault. You looked at me like you wanted to say you loved me, one last time. A ping hit my chest. I was careful with you.’
“I trusted you. I did everything right. I’m finally letting go. When you find that girl you’re in love with, tell her she’s the luckiest girl in the world. Please take better care of her than you did me.”
‘It feels like a violation of your body. The doctor or assistant may remind you, ‘It’s nothing different than sex, have you never had sex before?’
“With the huge population of our country these doctors take innocent people for a ride, sometimes even during the pregnancy or childbirth.”
This Kind Chick-Fil-A Employee Paid For A Homeless Man’s Meal, And It Restored My Faith In Humanity
“It would have been so easy to turn around and ask the manager to step in or for help, but she didn’t, she just said ‘Hey, it’s on me.'”
I Battled Infertility, Then I Gave Birth To Quadruplets
“I wasn’t even doing IVF! Holy FREAKING COW,’ I yelled. FOUR babies?! Is that even possible? There must be a mistake, I can’t be having four babies! But there they were, quadruplets. We are going to need a bigger house.”
‘It was 6 a.m. I froze. ‘That’s weird. She never calls this early.’ When I arrived, he kept holding his stomach. Mom’s ALWAYS know what’s wrong, but she couldn’t figure this one out.’
“He didn’t say much. I couldn’t get any words out. He ran up and gave me a light little poke before running away. All I could think was, ‘Why? He’s only 14.'”
‘The nurse asked my husband, ‘Do you know your wife is an alcoholic?’ He knew. ‘Was the cop there for me?,’ I thought, frozen in fear.’
“I ended up buying a $1,500 puppy at the mall, taking a picture on the mall Santa’s lap by myself and checking into a hotel. Apparently, I walked from the hotel to an outdoor mall where I was arrested in a blackout for ‘drunk walking’ in public. Yes, I was arrested by the mall cops.”
‘I opened the door and saw a man holding flowers. ‘I have a delivery for Nikki,’ he said. I instantly turned to my husband, assuming they were from him. Except, they weren’t. I could tell by the confused look on his face.’
“‘Who are they from?,’ I asked. He so matter of factly said, ‘Your Mom.’ But my mom has been dead for almost eight years now.”
I Hit The School Photo Lottery After Hilarious Green Screen Fail
“I would have never thought about what wearing a green cap and gown in front of a green screen would do, but the end result was priceless!!”
‘You may only get one of them, in your entire life. People who are loyal as hell. People who invite you. People who aren’t suddenly too cool for you when the popular girls enter the room.’
“People who don’t shrug you off when you’re going through a slump. People who don’t make you walk around on eggshells. Life is crazy. But sometimes, every once in a blue moon, we’re lucky enough.”
‘I looked to the corner of my room and saw him sitting there. ‘No, I will not do this,’ I thought. And then it happened. I fell to my knees.’: Widow’s vivid recollection of what overwhelming grief feels like
“I let the nightmare play out. I screamed. I cried harder than I ever have. And as suddenly as it came, it was gone. The room was still. It was quiet. I looked back to the corner. But he was still there. He was still sitting there, watching.”
‘I don’t know how we got to that house. I don’t know why I did the things I did when we got there. I just know it was my bottom. I hurt him terribly by cheating on him.’
“When I woke up that morning, I was so incomprehensibly demoralized and mortified at myself and my behavior. I never wanted to feel that way again. I never wanted to hurt like that again. I had to change.”
‘My boyfriend woke me. ‘He is in the house.’ I checked the doors, all locked. I climbed back into bed. ‘I just saw him in the hall!’ I got up again. He was there. We heard a loud BOOM!’
“We started arguing and it woke my son up. Excited to see his dad, he ran to him. He picked him up, turned and walked out. He just took my son! I was in shock. She knew. She told me to pack a small bag and get the hell outta there.”
‘We were in complete amazement. We were also nervous having 4 babies in 13 months! I must have asked the question 5 times. No one thought it was me! Everyone was in disbelief.’
“Finally at 3 months I made an appointment with a doctor to figure out my problem. The appointment was on Friday. For some reason, Thursday night it dawned on me – I should take a pregnancy test. I took it 3 times due to my disbelief. Shock.”
‘Get in the car,’ my mom forcefully tells me. My mind is racing. Turning me into jail? Where are we going? The drive feels like an eternity.’ She parks. ‘Do you see this place?,’ she chokes out.’
“I had an urge. I was terrified. I went to the only place I knew I was safe. She was asleep. I stood by her crib and stared at the greatest gift I had ever been given, my beautiful baby girl. As I looked at her, tears flooded out of me. That night, she saved my life.”