“Graduation night arrives and I am 18. Time to run away from home. Oh my gosh, what was I about to do? I left my parents a note on the kitchen table.”
‘I’ve been married 4 times. Yes, you read that right. I met my first husband when I was in 8th grade.’: Woman says divorce helped her become a stronger person, gain respect for herself
‘Before my father’s sudden death last year, I thought I understood what to expect about grief. But nothing, nothing could have prepared me for how different this unexpected loss would feel.’
“It hit me like a stab to the heart. I was hurt. I felt confused. Why had I not even been asked, when a year ago I would have been?”
‘I woke her up at 2 a.m. and realized she couldn’t move her arm. I asked her to raise her arm, and realized it was paralyzed.’: Mom details daughter’s journey with Acute Flaccid Myelitis
“My 4 children came down with a regular, common cold. They all took the same medications, had the same symptoms. While 3 of my children continued to improve, my youngest daughter became extremely worse.”
‘Nobody thought I had a problem, I was just the life of the party. I was reaching out for help, but doctors didn’t believe me. I was even suicidal on my wedding day.’
“I knew something was terribly wrong. I was in law school about to collapse on the floor of my dorm room when I realized my life would never be the same again. It was like an all-night-long strobe light party in my brain.”
‘My neighbors change these skeletons every day for Halloween. I think I finally need to share them.’: Woman documents neighbors’ amazing Halloween efforts
“I started to snap photos to compare all of them. My neighbors’ names are Bob and Bill. They were so excited.”
‘They said, ‘You’re lucky you don’t have kids.’ I had just had my first miscarriage.’
“I went back to work the next day taking orders at a drive-in while someone was complaining about their kids. I explained to them I had just miscarried, and I WOULD gladly take their place.”
‘Imagine if we stopped beating ourselves up and just saw ourselves as our children see us? As everything.’
“So, when you’re asked, ‘what did you do all day?’ ‘Save the world,’ is an acceptable answer.”
‘In the blink of an eye, they were killed. I am a teenager, time and time again being informed of funerals for people I know.’: Woman recalls loved ones lost, ‘We are all one unexpected tragedy away from heartbreak’
“In the blink of an eye, the word suicide is a part of my vocabulary and my family story.”
‘I couldn’t grasp how we went from a happy new family of 5 to our world being turned upside down! Our sweet, perfect baby girl went into brain surgery at just 9 days old.’
“In her 34 years of work, she had never seen a brain bleed so severe, didn’t know what kind of quality of life she would have, and said she would be in a vegetable state. She had a terrible bedside manner, and came off as harsh and unfeeling to me.”
My Birthing Experience Was Traumatic, Devoid Of Empathy, And Nearly Lethal
“‘Oh honey,’ the doctor replied, ‘You’re just being hormonal. Every woman goes through a part of her labor where she doesn’t think she can do it.’ I was shocked. I wanted some damn answers.”