“When you were shrieking in your crib, the pain becoming too much to bear, I reach for you.”
Dear Child: No Matter The Highs And Lows, I Will Always Reach For You
‘You are a boy, hunny,’ I would say to him gently. By age 4, he was flat out denying this could be true.’: Mom reflects on when her daughter ‘was born my son’
“Matthew was constantly asking to watch Disney princess movies. ‘Kids are kids,’ I thought. I loved my feminine, eccentric son. The problem was, the older he got, the more he did not love himself. He was always angry. He’d flip chairs at school. He was misunderstood, but to what degree I had no idea. ‘When I grow up and I’m a girl…’ My husband and I would correct him, and often, he’d be sad with the reality.”
‘This is DFS calling. His name is Baby Boy (he hasn’t been given a name). His mother abandoned him at the hospital. He is currently in the NICU ready to be released.’
“Just that morning I was sad I wouldn’t have a ‘baby’ anymore because mine was turning 3, and now I was picking up a baby.”
‘I climbed the metal ladder and saw my daughter lying face down. ‘Please Mom, don’t do that.’ If I fell, no one could use the Narcan.’: Mom shares harrowing journey finding daughter overdosed
“My heart sank, and I begged her not to go. My premonition was right in front of me. ‘Please, you have to come home…I’m hearing noises coming out of Monica’s room.’ I found myself breaking down her door. She was grey and purple, her fingers were clenched closed. To our horror, we saw her ‘works’ by her bed.”
‘Graduating isn’t possible.’ My body was shutting down. But I was going to get my degree one way or another.’: Woman finds ‘strength, faith’ among tumor discovery and multiple chronic diagnoses
“She had only ever seen once in her career. My world completely stopped. I had to quit all my activities. I was separated from everyone. And just when I thought there might be light at the end of the tunnel, we got more life changing news. I bet you’ve never heard someone wanting to go to school so badly, but I did. I just wanted to feel normal again.”
‘I knew something was wrong. No matter what is happening with his chromosomes, the love these two have for each other is unmatched.’: Son diagnosed with chromosome 7 inversion
“He was just a rag doll — he didn’t seem to have hardly any muscles or fat on him. But I know with Cecilee by his side, Kai will be OK.”
No One Teaches You How To Love A Child You Didn’t Plan To Have
“When the same people who told you that you ruined your life are smiling ear to ear at your baby shower a few months later, it’s hard.”
Inside The Life Of A Former Closeted Drunk
“Sobriety is truly society’s best kept secret.”
‘You are not old enough to be going through this.’: Husband’s resilience and positivity ‘stuns’ wife after her ‘life-altering’ chronic disease diagnosis
“We vowed to love each other ‘in sickness and in health.’ Little did we know how vividly those vows would be tested. I became acutely ill. I remember running out of a patient’s room to throw up. I felt as though I was the one who ought to be in the hospital bed. I was diagnosed with a total dysfunction of my autonomic nervous system. Illness has taken away much, but it has taught me even more.”
‘I worried my wonderful southern knight would leave me because I couldn’t give him the family he wanted. I started to break down, slowly. I felt so alone.’
“We officially got the great news and shouted it loud for all to hear. We were on cloud 9. Everything was fun and exciting. Until it wasn’t.”