“All of a sudden everything changed. She looked in his eye and things became serious. ‘I’m trying to get him into a specialist today.’ The word ‘today’ was lingering. What could be so important? I couldn’t believe my ears.”
‘I saw a glow in my son’s left eye. I started to turn the flash off in photos, then I remembered a story about a girl whose eye was glowing. My eyes filled with tears. ‘Is it cancer?’
‘Maybe it was possible we could live together again.’: Couple ‘breaks away from the conventional beliefs of what breaking up ‘should’ or often looks like.’
“The first night, Onyx cried out and before I could rush to his side, Tyler was already there soothing him back to sleep. I knew in that moment that although this was unconventional, this was right for us.”
‘My eyes welled up. 2018 has not been easy on this ever-changing family. 7 little people that hold the pieces of my heart were under one roof, and I felt whole.’
“Raising children who spent their first years of holidays in chaos and insecurity can be challenging. We juggle the joy of now, with the reality of painful memories.”
‘My dad was sick 2 years ago. Not like stomach flu sick. Not like pneumonia sick. Not like medicine-can-fix-it sick.’
“I don’t like how he hurt and how he suffered. I don’t like the pain his disease caused. But I do like what it taught me.”
‘I grew up in the 80’s. We invented the most radical lingo. Well, it’s a new era and a new set of teens. I took my daughter on a road trip and guess what? I barely understood a word she was saying.’
“Without us, today’s kids would never know the meaning of something good being called ‘bad.’ I remind myself of this while I’m carpooling teenagers who just don’t understand that, at one point, I was BODACIOUS.”
‘I know to be grateful for his years. I also know he was sick for a long time. Nobody knows that more than us, because we witnessed it. I know, but I don’t care.’
“He breathed 2 tiny last gasps of breath before leaving us for good this time. I watched him, felt him and loved him. So I think yes, I will mourn and still cry, if I want and need to.”
‘For us, he was only ever our son. Even though most folks find him adorable right now, they might feel differently when he dates their daughters.’: Mom adopts black child, hopes for more acceptance for his future
“A neighbor at a playgroup asked all the kids to go around the room and say what color they were. They all laughed when it was Eli’s turn. He said he was white, like everyone else did. They made sure he left knowing he wasn’t.”
‘A well-dressed man approached, I got in his car and he drove me to a wooded area. He kept me all night.’: Woman details her runaway journey with beautiful kindnesses along the way
“When I was 5 years old, one of my earliest memories is of my mother dropping me out of a two-story window which resulted in both of my arms being broken.”
I Am The Person Who Listens To You Cry As You Beg Your Loved One To Take Another Breath
“In order to understand who I am, you must first understand what I do.”
‘His dad said loudly, ‘Oh hush, you were worse. You know? You would scream so loud, run up and down the tables, throw things. Your mother and I stopped going out because of you.’
One of the kids stood up on the chair and said a big ‘hello!’ The guy immediately looked down, and wouldn’t look up. The kid was trying to get his attention and say hi, but the guy looked at his partner and rolled his eye
‘I drove home crying, feeling forgotten. That same night, I received a call. ‘We have a 4-day-old baby in the NICU who needs a family. We think it should be you.’: Mom shares journey with infertility, adoption, and foster care
“I got home and, on a whim, took a test. It was POSITIVE. Let me remind you, we NOW have a 3-year-old, 2-year-old, 9-month-old, and two foster daughters, ages 2 and 7. Okay, you are just messing with us, right?”
‘We are forgetting about our boys and that’s not OK.’
“Article after article is about raising daughters, not sons. And, when I do come across an essay on raising sons, it’s about how and why we need to raise our boys with particular values for the sake of the females and daughters of the world. This is something I’m not entirely on board with.”
‘My daughter looked up at me. ‘What’s that,’ she innocently asked. I wiped away tears. ‘I miss your brother and sister.’ She leaned her head against mine. ‘I miss them too,’ she whispered.’
“As I opened her closet door, something tumbled to the ground. I reached down and picked up the small storage container, knowing instantly what was inside. I took a deep breath as I rubbed my fingers across the sticker that said ‘hospital things.’”
‘I’m sorry, but I don’t think he’s going to make it.’ I sat flabbergasted, tears instantly streaming. This was not how this day was supposed to go.’
“We were so stunned when the doctor informed us our baby didn’t stand a chance. I began questioning his claims. He became increasingly uncomfortable. He finally excused himself, but not before adding, ‘and if by some miracle he lives, he will never walk.’”
‘As I wheeled the adoptive mom out toward the elevator, I could see her shoulders shaking with sobs. I knelt down beside her and took her hand in mine.’
“She looked deep into my soul and cried, ‘How can something that is so painful for someone, bring me so much joy?'”
‘I was 20, got drugged, sexually assaulted and pregnant. ‘Why did you keep the baby?’ Well, this baby was a MIRACLE.’: Single mom overcomes abusive relationship to find her ‘prince charming’
“When my son was 10 months old, I fell in love with a guy who I thought was the one. I was positive I was going to marry him. Everything was great – or so it seemed. He would go through my phone. He’d go from saying how much he loved my child, to saying he would hit him after taking his diaper off. Later, I met my price charming. Did I mention he was excited to date a single mom? I have a keeper.”
As A Mom, I Realized ‘The Giving Tree’ Isn’t So Sad After All
“There is such beauty in the giving when then giving is done out of love.”
‘Dear Teenage Daughter Of Mine, You help me understand why some animals eat their young.’
“Let’s be honest. You have friends. I have friends. We don’t need to be each other’s friend. I make you insane with my dumb rules, and frankly, you aren’t always a peach to live with either.”
‘I found out months before meeting Jorgie we were unable to have biological children. We were devastated. We just couldn’t understand at the time. Until we met him.’
“Taylor was 10 months old when she was shaken and abused. They called again, but this time it was for a 2-month-old baby girl born addicted. Everyone thought we were crazy for considering another child with so many needs, but if not us, then who?”
‘Refuse to believe the only way to make Christmas memorable is to buy everything for everyone. The holidays aren’t about going into debt, or kids getting everything they lay their eyes on.’
“Refuse to say yes to everything. You’re a human. You’re allowed to have some limits. You’re allowed to have some boundaries. You’re allowed to politely decline now and then.”
‘We’re doing the surgery to save your wife’s life, not your child’s.’ Those are words no husband ever wants to hear.’: Miracle preemie survives despite mom’s HELLP diagnosis, emergency surgery
“I completely lost control of my emotions and all I could do was beg the doctor not to do this. ‘She’s too small! It’s too soon!’ That was all I kept saying.”
‘This is cancer we are dealing with. I couldn’t keep my heart from pounding.’: Woman with Stage III breast cancer determined to beat it, ‘With him by my side I knew I would be fine’
“In the midst of the chaos that surrounds a diagnosis like that, we tried to be somewhat normal. Adam was always by my side… trying to be strong, but I could tell he was worried. So was I… and I know he was trying to be stronger for me. What better way to celebrate living your life with someone than putting the awful past behind you?”
‘The doctor said, ‘When we intubated him, a bright lime green slime came shooting out of his mouth.’: Husband has heart attack after drinking energy drink, ‘I wasn’t the only one’
“I’d just seen him joking around with me 30 minutes ago, and now he was lying on a gurney. The best option was to put him into a medically induced coma for at least 2 days to see if he’d regain his full mental capacity. All because of a drink!”
I Became A Mom To 2 Newborn Babies Only 4 Months Apart
“I stood there holding my 3-month-old boy as she sent me pictures of the baby growing in her stomach. I was speechless.”
‘You farted yet, love?’ After birth, I was asked constantly if I had passed gas. My answer was always no.’: Mom hilariously recalls what happened when nurse gave her ‘the sweetest liquid and two pills to get me going’
“Around 2-3 a.m. I was happily nursing my baby when my stomach started growling. There was a thunderstorm in my colon and it was going to be explosive…”