“A good fit. I’ve rolled the words over and over again in my mind. In a matter of one conversation over lunchtime, they determined him ‘unfit’ and ‘too much’ for their school.”
‘Please come pick up your son. He isn’t a good fit.’ He was there 3 hours before we got the call.’
‘She will probably never walk, but hey, these types of kids are always happy.’ Happy? I grieved for the daughter I thought I was going to bring home.’
“How was I going to be able to take care of my daughter? I wasn’t ‘special,’ I had no idea what to do! The doctor never even touched her. I realized my daughter was put in a box. A box of old school thinking and treatment.”
‘I woke up expecting it to be my last day on earth. I bought a bottle of pills and razors. Then I bought a rope. I had 3 different plans and figured one of them had to work.’
“I walked for miles to find an area with a good tree, and no people. I finally found a place. I tied the rope around the tree, and took what I thought would be my last breath. I stepped off the branch. Then, someone called. My phone rang and rang. I finally answered.”
‘I was belittled and embarrassed. There were 2 men who thought it was acceptable to be rude to me because they had previously ‘Spoken to my husband.’
“Today, I had to take my car to the local dealership for a service issue. Having dealt with one of these ‘old school’ thinking men at that location before, I hoped I would have the good fortune of not having to see him today. I was wrong.”
‘Your technician Robert came to our home. He walked into a mess. My son was born with two rare brain defects and is blind. Today has been rough for him.’: Mom thanks stranger for his compassion towards son with special needs
“When Robert walked in, Sailor ran to him and reached up. Robert didn’t seem bothered at all and, instead, held my son for the whole 45 minutes he was in our home. He could have walked in, rushed, and left, but instead he saw a need greater than internet and met it.”
‘Started class with this chart today and I’m so glad I did. It’s easy to misinterpret behavior and its cause.’: Teacher takes time for daily check-in with students
“Students wrote their name on the back of a sticky note and then placed it in the row that most accurately aligns with how they’re feeling right now.”
‘He went out on the lake. But something happened. He was gone. My Andy was missing for 3 weeks. He wasn’t found until an ice fisherman dropped his camera onto my husband’s foot.’
“To my dismay, I was selected as the Designated Driver. I also had to play the role of containing my husband from leaving me – to join the band. My Andy was an introvert to most, but not on this night in question. He had consumed several adult beverages.”
‘We hugged her. Then, we received a text. When we pushed the door open, all I heard was, ‘We have a situation.’ My heart sank. I knew what those words meant.’
“We secretly prepared for the baby. We received the call we had been waiting for. Baby was born. It was time to head to the hospital. If I’m being honest, I was sick to stomach thinking about what the next few hours might look like.”
‘I noticed Ellie had a cough. Then everything got scary really fast. All the blood in my head rushed to my feet. I caused my child’s illness.’: Daughter fights for her life after RSV diagnosis causes seizure
“I knew it was serious, so I finally broke down and called my mom. I told her I was in the ambulance and I didn’t think Ellie would make it. She told me she woke up around 3:00 a.m. and started praying because she felt something was wrong.”
‘My wife is now carrying our 8th child, our 8th loss. Everything inside me is twisted with pain.’: Husband mourns as ‘strong, courageous’ wife suffers 8th miscarriage
“I can’t think about the gravity of this situation. Don’t cry in front of all these strangers. Our parents will arrive soon, then the doctor will tell me to come back and see my wife as she wakes up. I’ll look at her and have that tangled up emotion of grief and gratitude. She’ll show her strength like she always does, even though she’s hopped up on meds and just went through one of the most traumatic things ever.”
‘My mother aggressively combed my curls with a plastic fine-toothed comb. It was painful. If I protested or uttered a sound, Mother would punch me on the head and rake the comb harder.’: Young woman survives narcissistic abusive mom
“The comb would make a dry, raking noise. Clumps of hair were ripped off my scalp. I tried not to react. If I winced of moved, Mother would just do it harder. She was careful to only do it behind closed doors.”
‘I couldn’t hide the huge bumps on my face. I felt hideous. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. I genuinely HATED what I saw.’
“A friend told me, ‘You must not be trying hard enough. Do you wash your face at all?’ For years, I didn’t leave the house. He would offer to take me on dates. My answer was always the same. ‘No.’ I became obsessed.”
‘Your heart rate is fast and it skips. We don’t know why. You are young, you will grow out of it.’ The appointments were worthless. The doctor wrote me off as a hypochondriac.’
“I was angry. Enraged is more like it. I realized my major problems started at the end of 2013. What had I done differently that year? I had birth control inserted in my arm. It was just a hunch, but I knew deep down I was right.”
‘His peaceful face let me know, ‘I’m free, I am OKAY Mom, like you said I would be.’: Mom receives message in dream from son that died of cancer
“I have received over 50 vivid dream visits from Logan since his passing, where he is solid, warm and as real as you and I. Some dreams he tells me things, others we just hug, hold hands, laugh together, or spend time together saying nothing at all. One of the most unforgettable things he has told me are, ‘Heaven is just another place. I’m not gone!”
‘Lots of women don’t know where they stand in their relationship. They don’t feel sexy anymore. They feel like the spark is gone. They’re not sure if they’re wanted.’
“They feel like their children, home and family are the only reason their partner hasn’t randomly come home one day, asking to call it quits.”
‘My boy is 13 and he has WHITE HAIR!’ I went into a hysterical panic and phoned his doctor. We waited in a small exam room with dinosaurs. This alone made me sick; my boy was no toddler.’
“I noticed something strange on Daniel’s knee. A white patch. It was the size of a dime and honestly looked like an old scar. When I asked him what happened, he replied, ‘I don’t know.’ I remember nearly yelling at her, ‘Yes, BUT HE HAS WHITE HAIR! Could there be anything else going on with my son?!'”
‘She was at a dead stop in traffic. She looked in her rear-view mirror and saw a car coming full speed behind her. She braced herself.’: Mom warns about the dangers of texting and driving
“When he finally looked up from his phone, it was too late. I’m sure the message is clear here.”
‘My husband’s heart may have stopped beating, but after he flat-lined, he was revived. ‘How do I cope?,’ I get asked a lot. It really stumped me.’
“My husband has an infamous (and rather annoying) saying he likes to toss around, ‘It could always be worse.’ This is usually met with an exaggerated eyeroll from me, because my realist personality believes the opposite. ‘It could always be better.'”
‘It’s a secret I’ve been holding closely to my heart. Six years after being pregnant with our triplets, and then losing two of them, I am pregnant.’
“The tears have poured down my face, my heart racing as I finally share our news. Being pregnant after child loss is one of the most difficult things I have gone through in my life. To be honest, I was too scared.”
‘He is our wild child. Our rowdy, free spirited, change the world child who I contemplated co-sleeping with well into Jr. High. What would you think of him?’
“First I want to tell you, I didn’t always love you the way I do now.”
‘Good job Mommy. You came just in time.’ I asked her why. She replied, ‘I didn’t want Addison to feel bad that I have two daddies, and she only has one.’
“‘Why would she feel bad?,’ I asked. It was in that moment, I knew I would never have to worry about Emma missing a piece of her heart. It never left her. Unlike her younger siblings, she has two daddies that love her. Her daddy here at home, and her daddy in heaven.”
‘I threw my baby in a dumpster. No goodbyes, no tears.’
“My hands shook as I grabbed a Dixie cup and gently scooped this little piece of flesh, my heart, my blood, from its watery grave. A moment later, I left the bathroom. My little burden wrapped in paper towels, and put it in my purse.”
‘Your eyes were swollen to slits. Your lips looked like they had too much Botox. Your hands were squishy from fluid. I was the silent watcher.’
“‘Were you in a car accident?’ Every single day I get asked how I hurt myself. I usually try to laugh it off by saying, ‘Don’t I wish I got hurt playing sports.’ Sometimes people are okay with this answer. What happens though, when people are a bit more interested, and sincerely want to know what happened to you?”
‘I kept my pregnancy a secret. I knew coming home from the war would be tough, but I expected him to be a better father. He started drinking and blaming me.’
“I was working full time, coming home to a 2-year-old, while his dad played video games. My initial thought was ‘How??’ I saved the test to show their father. But that never happened. So I sent him a message. Straight to the point. ‘I’m pregnant.’ He packed all of his stuff, and was just gone.”
‘That girl wears so much makeup, she must be high maintenance. She’s pretty, so she’s dumb. I see an awful lot of claws out.’
“Growing up, I was often complimented that I was ‘not like other girls’. I loved to play sports, crack jokes and hang out with my brother’s friends. I put my hair in a pony tail and wore blue jeans. And I wasn’t like other girls. Because other girls were… Hmm. I don’t know, exactly.”