“I saw my dad on the same level as Batman or Superman. He was so strong. It seemed like he could do anything. He could pick up both of my sisters and me at one time, tickle us, and throw us around like a rag dolls. He gave the best hugs.”
‘When I became a father I felt like a fumbling mortal, a diaper-changing imposter. I grew up to learn my dad had faults, too. Like many men of his generation, he didn’t know how to handle his emotions.’
Why I’m Thankful I See My Son At His Worst
“You don’t have to pretend with me. I am your safe haven.”
‘Are you upset with me? Do you blame me? Do you trust me with the triplets?’ Mom reveals ‘the hardest conversation’ she ever had in 10 years of marriage
“I had to be honest with my husband so he could help me through the guilt and shame that came with almost losing our baby girl.”
I Have A Large Family, And People Say The Strangest Things Because Of It
“I know how crazy my life looks, and when you approach with the sheer goal to reiterate that fact, it not only puts a damper on my day, but it teaches my kids that having a large family is ‘wrong.'”
‘At the performance, my baby boy blew out his diaper. I scooped him up, rushing to the bathroom. This was at our fancy playhouse, which apparently meant no changing table.’
“I set him down as I cleared away the fancy bowl of potpourri that was not helping this situation. I was about 25 wipes into the situation when, to make the mess worse, he starts projectile vomiting while I am changing him.”
‘I want my life back. I want my husband back. I want my kids to feel whole again. I want it back. All of it.’
“At the time, after his diagnosis, I thought his love for me, and my love for him did not change. Looking back, I can see now that it did. For the first time in our relationship, we were scared at the same time.”
‘The days I spent as an intern in the White House seemed far behind me. After all, I was an addict. A junkie. And a gay man, too.’
“Today, more than 20 people I know and love have been killed by overdoses. Those people’s moms and dads didn’t stop believing in them, ever. But that didn’t save their lives.”
‘Here’s where my 12-year-old son, Noah, should have stood this morning for his obligatory back-to-school picture.’: Bereaved mom says ‘it’s okay to acknowledge both the beauty and the ache’
“Today he should have started 7th grade. Instead he never will.”
‘There’s no way you’re sick. You’re the picture of health,’ my husband said. I went 36 years feeling like I was dying, but doctors couldn’t give me answers.’ Woman diagnosed with POTS after being told she ‘just needs vitamins’
“The cardiologist asked me to take a seat. ‘We have good news, then some complicated news.’ I’d never been so nervous. I sat there, waiting to hear the worst, but I was relieved when I heard the words, ‘You have a healthy heart.’ I took a breath and released with ease. The next words to come changed my life forever. The cardiologist looked at me and said, ‘You were born with a rare condition called POTS.’”
‘They said $5 for any dog that’s a foot or longer. I immediately thought of Subway’s $5 foot long! I decided to text my mom to ask for ‘permission.’
“She never specified what kind of foot long…”
‘It was obvious her heart behind this was ENORMOUS and pure’: Special education teacher’s homemade traveling coffee cart allows her students to ‘practice social skills, work through their shyness’
“This allows her students to walk around to the teachers and staff in the school, take their orders and then deliver their coffee to them. They even learning how to run a simple business by calculating their expenses and profits.”
‘My tiny Autism warrior has one of the best teachers. Not joking- we hit the jackpot. I don’t take it for granted for a second.’
“But this isn’t about teachers. It’s about the paraprofessionals. The aides. The helpers. The snugglers and errand runners. The quiet encouragers. The hallway monitors. This is for the backbone of every classroom across America. For all the spines with soft spots who love our children when we can’t.”
‘This is what my daughter wore to her first day of 1st grade. Three pairs of different colored socks, all inside-out, stuffed into her ‘fancy’ shoes. And oh, let’s not forget the bright pink BATHING SUIT.’
“Did they think I was a bad mom for letting my child walk around like that? That I was lazy or over-indulgent?”
Dear Society: Stop Telling Boys They Can’t Cry
“Crying doesn’t make you weak. Fear doesn’t make you weak.”
I Birthed A Child Faster Than It Takes My Husband To Poop
“What are men doing in there anyways? Surfing the internet? Watching YouTube videos? Playing Fortnite? Putting things into their Amazon cart they’ll never actually buy?”
‘Back to School!’: Teacher husband is hilariously unimpressed with wife’s photo of his 1,080th day of school
“My favorite color is Gator Orange”
‘The girl at the front desk asked me with the biggest smile, ‘Where’s the baby? No baby?’ I shook my head no.’: Woman shares experiencing anxiety attacks after child loss
“I dig my fingers and nails into my skin. I rub the crap out of my knees. I pick my cuticles. I pinch my skin extremely hard. My muscles all get super tight, and my entire body tenses. I hyperventilate, and I can’t control my body.”
‘I attempted suicide as mightily as any 14-year-old girl could muster. Suicide is the greatest thing I’ve ever failed at.’
“My dances with death were on the same day, just 7 years apart. Extensive counseling and desperate journaling have left me without any explanation of why I subconsciously chose May 4th as the date I should die.”
When the devil looked my marriage in the eyes and said, ‘You are not worthy of a child, your body has failed you and your arms will forever be empty,’ God looked back and said, ‘Sit down.’
“It started on the cold lonely bathroom floor where I lay in a pool of my own blood, saying goodbye to the children my body could not protect, grow, and nurture. Three pregnancies in nine months that all end in miscarriage is not good for the body. Or the mind. Or the soul.”
I Am A Disabled Person, And I Don’t Exist To Inspire You
“If my story was a movie, dramatic music would play while I’d look meaningfully into the camera and gush about how becoming chronically ill changed my life for the better. I’d clasp my hands together and preach about how my condition helped me to discover more about myself as a person, and then waltz off into the sunset with a handsome prince and some kind of small fortune due to a dramatic plot twist.”
‘Last week, I made a call. One that had me feeling anxious until about 9:10 a.m. this morning.’
“I agreed to call a local fitness chain and schedule myself a guest class. Were you expecting something more daunting? If so, you must not understand how terrifying certain social situations can be for some people.”
‘Both my dad and brother were murdered.’ ‘I was adopted and never want to go back.’ Teacher’s eye-opening school project gets vulnerable responses from students
“These incredible stories, 95 of them – hard ones and easy ones, painful ones and hopeful ones – are the stories they are just beginning to write on their own.”
Dear Parents: Hold Your Babies Close—They Don’t Stay Little Long
“Those little fingers will grip a steering wheel, wave goodbye and drive off to somewhere new. Those little fingers will walk down the aisle and say ‘I do,’ falling in love with someone new.”
Dear Infertility: I Don’t Hate You, Not Anymore
“My strength was rising. Not only did I feel like Superwoman after all of those injections, meds, blood draws and doctor visits, but I found strength emotionally, as well. I learned how to be brave.”
‘We played, smiled, sang. Daddy took him downstairs. At 5:15 a.m., my beautiful little boy was unresponsive.’: Mom loses her son to SIDS, claims ‘not a day goes by where I don’t cry’
“I immediately began CPR. He still had a pulse and I was determined. I was so, so in love with this little man. The entire ambulance ride was a blur. I sat there, watching them work on my 4-month-old, tiny son. ‘Not my beautiful baby!’ We were such good parents. How could this happen to us? We finally left the hospital having to tell my other son the hardest conversation I’ve ever had. It was the worst nightmare ever.”