“Then came the biggest surprise of all.”
‘We discovered more than 100 kids lived there, 100 kids just like us.’
‘I listened to my boys rattle off their wish list to Santa. Tears filled my eyes as I knew they would probably never receive all these things.’: Mom struggles during the holidays, ‘Christmas is a magical time, right?’
“And what does mom want this year?’ Crying, I quietly answered, ‘A New Life?’ Santa hugged me and whispered in my ear, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ Life began to change in the most wonderful way.”
I Gave My Baby Up For Adoption At 15, Now I’m Best Friends With Her Adoptive Mother
“We have a little bit of an unconventional family, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
‘It was two days after the ultrasound when my body spontaneously began to miscarry. The ultrasound technician told me he couldn’t see a baby, a heartbeat, anything that should have been there at 12 weeks’ gestation.’
“I told myself the early miscarriage wasn’t worth being sad about. I had two friends at the time who had recently suffered late term losses and I knew that must be much more devastating to cope with. I had no right to cry when they had suffered so much more.”
‘Before having kids, the only half-a*sing I was doing was letting my then tight booty peek out of a pair of two-short self-hemmed, denim shorts or squish it into a little black dress.’
“The tight booty is gone, I haven’t put my thunder thighs in shorts in seven years, and although black is still my color of choice, I opt for high-waisted leggings instead of dresses. During the brief period from Halloween night through New Year’s Day, us mothers half-a*s the shiitake out of everything, and it is entirely acceptable.”
‘Rather than give me nothing, this student took the time to take every marshmallow out of her cereal to put in a bag—for me.’: Teacher receives Christmas gift from student in need
“You see, 100% of my school is on free/reduced lunch. They also get free breakfast at school every day of the school week. This kiddo wanted to get my something so badly but had nothing to give.”
‘I wanted to shake her, wake her up, start CPR – surely they could do something, she looks perfect, she could survive at 33 weeks. But it was too late.’
“I felt an immediate uncontrollable sickness and stumbled to the bathroom where I noticed there was blood. I was toppling over and shouted to my husband there was blood and call an ambulance.”
‘I felt the strain of the seizure and labour on my body and looked at Jacob and said, ‘I love you and I love Eden and I know you will take good care of her if I don’t make it.’
“The Judge asked Jake why we wanted to adopt Shiloh. And I wept as he gave his response. ‘She is already our daughter. This is just the paperwork catching up to our hearts!’”
‘Many of these so-called treats end up with the dog ‘enjoying’ some time in a veterinary surgery over Christmas.’
“Heads up dog lovers!”
Marry The Guy That Does All The Things
“The guy that works hard for his family and often puts his needs dead last. The guy that goes to three different grocery stores to try and find his pregnant wife that special macaroni salad she just has to have (or the baby has to have.)”
I Almost Lost My Life To Toxic Shock Syndrome
“I woke up and it all hit me. Flu like symptoms. Fever, chills, vomiting and a rash developed on my left inner thigh. I had just moved back home to my parents a week prior and if it wasn’t for my mom, I would not be here writing this.”
‘This is the first Christmas they will not be home, at least not in their home. They’ll be in their NEW home, which doesn’t feel like home to Dad, and mom know longer knows where home is.’
“As hard as he tries to be happy, all we can feel is his sadness. We will continue to take him shopping – he loves doing anything with us. Mom doesn’t know it’s almost Christmas, so will do our best to get dad through the holidays.”
‘I’m a Christmas Eve baby. My birthday didn’t have the greatest timing in the eyes of others around me.’: Christmas baby argues to celebrate in June instead
“When I met my husband, do you know what he did on that first birthday we spent together? He wrapped my presents in Christmas wrapping paper. He learned pretty quickly to never do that again. No Santas or snowmen, please.”
‘There is NOTHING right about this picture, but EVERYTHING is right about it. Because it’s the only Christmas picture I have.’
“I never understood the value in having them until I couldn’t have them anymore. I thought I had time. But I didn’t.”
‘I had a ton of excuses as to why I couldn’t, but each one was eliminated. I was quickly immersed in the emotional roller coaster ride that is ‘foster care.’: Young woman adopts relative’s premature baby
“A nerve injury in her small intestine has caused quite the turmoil in her little body. Every day she complains that her belly hurts. Every day she retches and throws up. This has become our normal. Foster care is hard. Medical needs are hard. But I’m here to tell you that these kids are worth every single sleepless night.”
I Spent 12 Years With A Man I Never Should Have Married
“Ladies, there are amazing men in this world. Stop putting up with the B.S. and find a partner who loves and respects you.”
‘Maybe she hasn’t discovered her left arm yet?’ My baby was only using her right hand. Something was ‘wrong’ with my perfect, healthy girl.’: Daughter’s Hemorrhagic Stroke misdiagnosed for months, mom ‘beyond proud’ of her despite disabilities
“At her 6-month checkup, the pediatrician casually asked, ‘Does she switch toys back and forth between both hands?’ When I answered no, she said, ‘Oh no. This really isn’t normal.’ In the center of her brain was a burst vessel. This was both shocking and devastating. We were done waiting for her to ‘discover’ her arm. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This was not in my plans, at all.”
‘My daughter was your server. She is a hard working single mom to my grandson. She’s been working 2 jobs to come up with the money to give him Christmas and pay her bills.’
“She tries so hard not rely on anyone else. You guys left there without knowing what an impact this has made on her life. She’s prayed for a blessing like this to come her way.”
To The Person Who Made Me Feel Guilty For Using An Elevator (From An Invisible Illness Patient)
“I know you didn’t mean for your words to affect me the way they did, for them to hurt me as much as they did. But here’s what you didn’t know.”
‘He guided us through the storm. The water was over the road. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Stopping would put us in a more dangerous position.’
“It was so bad I could see only his brake lights at one point. We noticed the truck moving over to the left and I asked my husband, ‘Do you think he is pushing the excess water off the road for us?’ The driver of this truck restored my faith.”
‘It’s the mom who won’t look at you because she’s afraid she will say something stupid. It’s the girl who sends 50 text messages in 1 hour because her thoughts tell her you don’t like her.’
“The photo on the right was a week after I got out of psych ward that I posted to social media with a hashtag #happy.”
Please Stop Telling Me How I Should Celebrate Christmas
“If I want to scurry around every morning, freaking out about forgetting to move the darn elf the night before, and panicking that I’m going to get caught by my 7-year-old while trying to place him in a new spot…that’s my choice. If I want to sing ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’ while sipping egg nog in front of the fire, next to my handsy husband… don’t be concerned for me.”
‘Will she survive? Will she breathe?’ This was it. There was no turning back. I heard her loud cries.’: Mom births baby with Lymphatic Malformation, condition makes her ‘love her little girl so much more’
“I’d carried her 9 months and soon doctors would be taking her away from me to save her life. ‘When can I see my baby?’ I asked the nurse. ‘Not yet.’ I was finally able to gaze at her through a plastic incubator. There were wires all over her new skin and into her tiny little nose, tape securing them down. But nothing could ever steal away what she was. Beautiful.”
‘I yelled upstairs for Carson and his brother to come eat. Carson did not answer. This is the second my whole world turned upside down. I screamed. My whole family rushed upstairs.’: Mom loses son to ‘pass out challenge’
“He had recently started taking gummy vitamins and drinking 2-3 glassed of milk each day so he could ‘buff up his bones.’ In that conversation he mentioned the ‘pass out challenge,’ but he did not elaborate, and with much regret, neither did I.”
‘Evan was suddenly tired. I truly thought he’d caught something in Mexico on our honeymoon. The word was Leukemia.’: Infertile couple adopt son, say he ‘doesn’t carry our blood, but carries our whole heart’
“We were given the news that chemo would cause us infertility. Always being the patient, I’d never known what it meant to be on the other side of it. To watch your loved one suffer and feel so completely helpless your insides were miserably aching. But that was all about to change. How did this happen? What about all our plans and the family we were going to have? I was headed down the road to be a widow before we even had a chance to experience marriage.”