“I checked out what she was wearing and smelled her hair to see if she washed it. I’m not a creep, but I care about you.”
Dear Mom Friends, I Don’t Care About The Dirty Dishes In Your Sink
‘You should’ve worn a condom,’ the nurse uttered over the phone.’: Woman learns to live with herpes and strives to help others
“’I have something I need to tell you in person,’ I texted him. He was too busy. He gave me no other choice. ‘I tested positive for herpes,’ I typed. Sent.”
‘Aww, You’re such a freak of nature!’ I stood there, with my own obvious difference, unsure of what to say. Because I’ve been there. ‘Two-face.’ ‘Ugly.’ ‘Freak.’
“I went to the animal shelter to look at puppies. Then I saw her. She has extra claws on her back paws. I ranted. I raved. If that’s what she thought about a dog in her care, what was she thinking about the customer standing in front of her with half of a purple face?”
‘I’ve never seen anything like this before,’ a nurse said. I could hear everything. I could hear the panic and confusion. But I couldn’t react. I wondered if it was me who was dead.’
“They were on video chat with a doctor from a different hospital. They told me something rare happened, something no one in this hospital has ever seen. This doctor was the only one who knew exactly what to do. It’s been 2 years, but today, we happened to be back at the hospital where he happened to be working.”
‘It was April Fool’s Day, and I woke up crying. There was nothing funny about today, for me. My husband had a vasectomy. I was 34 years old.’
“My husband’s father looked up from his paper. ‘Your cousin is losing his rights to his child and is looking for someone in the family to adopt her.’ And just like that, he went back to reading his paper. We both looked at each other. He didn’t even have to ask me. ‘Yes, us.'”
‘I heard my brother yell, ‘Luke, move!’ I felt something hit my head. I instantly felt sick. I saw a gray beard, a man and his fist.’: Young man attacked for simply being gay, ‘I refuse to lose hope’
“I stood in the living room, my hands shaking. I looked my mother in eye as she said, ‘What’s this important news you have?’ I nervously said, ‘Promise you won’t hate me?’ A look of concern crossed her face. I blurted out, ‘I’m gay, I have a boyfriend.’”
‘On our honeymoon, I saw the DARKER side of my husband. My heart was beating out of my chest as he whispered in my ear, ‘You… are NOT going to tell me what to do.’: Woman overcomes domestic abuse, meets man she deserves
“I went to my bedroom and packed everything as fast as I could. My phone pinged. ‘You’ve got 1 new voicemail!”
‘My son complained of pain in his abdomen. When he started throwing up, I thought, ‘Maybe he ate something bad.’ I was in denial.’: Mom shares son’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis, advocates for affordable insulin
“We had no family history of it. When we got the news, I was thinking we had some quack doctor in the middle of the desert trying to diagnose my son by smelling his breath. He added, ‘If you waited 3 hours, he would’ve died in the car.’ My heart broke into a million pieces.”
‘He hated me for leaving him. I hated that he destroyed us. But most of all, I hated that he couldn’t JUST. BE. HAPPY.’
“We were so happy, trying to have a baby, talking marriage. A month later, I got the call I’ll never forget.‘Tom overdosed last night. They think it was accidental… pills and vodka.’ I kept repeating, ‘What am I supposed to do? What do I do now?’ I’d never felt so lost in my life.”
‘Either pregnancy is harder with age or we’re having twins.’ ‘Actually, there’s 3.’ Um, excuse me!: Mom delivers baby with Down Syndrome, gets surprise triplet pregnancy right after
“Our son with Down syndrome had just battled multiple heart failures and a stroke. Us: ‘Let’s have another kid.’ Universe: ‘Hold my beer.’ Our life was like a TV show playing out in real time.”
How My Ex And I Began Our Peaceful Co-Parenting Journey
“There we were, in and out of court, screaming in the street during drop-off like a Jerry Springer episode. At some point we realized it’s easier to put our differences aside and to co-parent these kids together.”
‘I’m pregnant!’ Pause. Shocking and exciting reaction. ‘April fools!!!’ I hate to admit it, but I too have done this.’
“I remember calling my sister to tell her our ‘news.’ Maybe it was funny at the time, but as the years went by and my womb remained empty, this prank became cruel and nowhere near funny. I know this is typically just an innocent prank, but to others, it might not be funny at all.”
‘He swipes food off stranger’s plates in restaurants. He likes to wear my Spanx because he loves the squeeze. In the beginning it was a bitter pill to swallow.’: Mom’s non-verbal son with autism has ‘led to my happiest life’
“I went to bed, buried myself under the comforters, and cried until there was nothing left. He would never work at his father’s firm, never give me grandchildren, and would probably never live independently.”
‘I really messed up Will. I’ll call you soon.’ Nothing prepares you for this. I look back at conversations I had with my sister and tears run down my cheek.’: Brother recalls sister’s battle with addiction
“Emily was such a gifted kid. I was the jealous older brother. I always thought she would be going places. Until things changed. We received a large inheritance from our grandmother’s passing. It was like a switch. ‘I never want to see or speak to you again,’ I said to my sister.”
‘I thought, ‘How is THIS nothing to worry about?’ The walls were closing in. Everything turned black and I couldn’t move my body. ‘It’s common for college students to be under a lot of stress.’
“I decided to request one specific blood test; one that was much harder to receive than it should have been. I had to basically force my doctor to test me. One week later, I was finally given the answer I had been longing so badly for.”
‘Well, Amy, you just have good kids.’ No. I don’t ‘just have good kids’. I MADE them good kids. They are YOUR responsibility.’
“My kids went to bed at 9 p.m. every night. They weren’t pathological liars. They weren’t violent. They didn’t disrespect authority figures. If anyone has tried to talk to you about the behavior of your kid, instead of getting offended, get better.”
How My 4th Grade Classmate Changed My Outlook On Life (In Just 4 Words)
“I’m sitting here shaking my head at the age of 35, because I still feel guilty for my careless words that afternoon.”
‘Then I received this email. ‘Hi there, My dad has been fighting cancer. Dad is getting weaker by the day. We have to do this as soon as possible.’
“I couldn’t keep it together to talk on the phone. This is a very difficult and dark time, but I know how you feel about love. We are throwing this plan together really fast. We don’t know how long we have.”
‘I tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Hey, I’m Brittney. This is a photo of us when we were little.’: Flower girl and ring bearer become bride and groom after chance meeting two decades later
“On my first day of high school, in walks a new boy with familiar bright blonde hair. His name was Briggs and for some reason I couldn’t get it out of my head. I still remember the first time I went into his house. His mother led me to an old photograph hanging right on the wall. It was me. In that very moment, I thought to myself, ‘This is the man I want to marry.’ I felt completely at home.”
‘Can you wipe my eyes? Can you make my tears stop?’ We sat in silence as my 90-year-old father’s tears fell. He was going to be alone for the first time in 69 years.’: Elderly man’s emotional final goodbye to his beloved wife
“He laid his head on her chest. He kissed her and he cried. He told her how much he loved her. He said he wouldn’t trade one day of his life with her. He said he would marry her all over again. He said he will see her soon, and to hold the door for him.”
‘The last stop was the frozen aisle. That’s when I saw her. I wanted to help. Would she think I was a kidnapper? Her son turned the corner and disappeared. I knew I had to act.’
“Two years later, it happened again. I was at a cancer specialty hospital with my now late husband, who had been diagnosed. I was scared. As we were walking out to the car, I saw her again. She was crying.”
‘We had 90 days to get married. We both questioned what we’d gotten into.’: Woman takes leap of faith in marrying man who had never met her family
“I remember talking to my Dad after the fact. He said, ‘Ronnie called me to ask my blessing. I couldn’t understand half of what he said, but I told him yes, my daughter could marry him.’ Although, not everyone had encouraging comments. I had frequent questions like, ‘What if this guy just wants a green card?’”
After 23 Years, I Forgave My Uncle For Murdering My Father—And It’s Transformed My Life
“I once read that choosing to not forgive someone is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die. In my unwillingness to open up my heart and forgive, I held on to fear and trauma that only ended up poisoning me.”
‘YASSS GIRL!’ She wanted bubbles in her pictures, and her man was going to make sure it happened. He was so enthusiastic and I’m here for it!’
“Let me tell y’all something! Sometimes I have some REALLY grumpy boyfriends and husbands come to my sessions. Dudes who are on their phones the entire time, saying, ‘Are we done yet?’ But every once in a while, you get a gem.”
‘They hadn’t told us which bed she was in, but we knew. Somehow, we knew. She was tiny, wrapped in an orange elephant blanket, and absolutely beautiful.’
“Every day that went by, we didn’t know if it would be our last together. Every time the phone rang my stomach was in knots. There were a few times I remember looking at each other like, ‘What the heck did we just get ourselves into?’”