“My brother didn’t care about his existence. Nothing could save my beautiful brother until he decided to save himself. My parents, they refused to give up.”
‘He presented no remorse for his actions and was in and out of jail. I watched my family wilt and fade.’: Sister expresses gratitude for brother’s sobriety, ‘My brother is back’
‘If you feel like you are failing at life right now, then Friend, you are in good company.’: Woman urges ‘there is no ceiling to this trench, we WILL get out’
“My children are playing way too many video games. My husband and I are constantly butting heads. I miss seeing faces without masks, miss asking my babies how their day was at school. I miss not having to stand in a line. AND WHY DO I HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME FOLLOWING THOSE DANG ARROWS?!”
‘I see people making grand declarations on their Facebook pages: ‘If you voted for So-So, unfriend me now!’: Woman urges ‘acknowledge differences and let love lead the way’
“There’s been a shift in the world, in the way in which we treat one another. No longer do we see the common threads that bind us.”
‘We left home on our bikes and didn’t return until the street lights came on. Growing up as a kid in the 80s totally prepared me for this.’: Mom encourages kids to have 80s-style independence
“When I was a kid in the 80s, we lived a very different life. We had lives our parents never really knew about. I didn’t grow up with someone micro-managing my childhood.”
‘He looked at me and said, ‘When are you going to adopt me?’: Stepmom shares emotional adoption of teen son
“My heart nearly exploded. I started to cry and said, ‘Lets do it!’ I vowed to step up and parent a little boy, but truth is, he taught me more then I could ever teach him.”
‘Starved for love, I made disastrous decisions. Eventually, I turned to food. I weighed in at 391 pounds, my body just as unhealthy as my soul.’: Survivor details battle with demons, ‘I am a beautiful disaster’
“Frozen in fear, you lay in your bed with that twisted knot in your stomach. There is always the question: who protected the little girl with the big, brown eyes? The answer? A resounding no one. I was a little girl.”
‘What the hell did she leave on my truck?’ This muscle-bound man was barreling towards me.’: Woman finds new purpose and true love delivering ‘Love Notes’ to veterans
“‘There is not a man alive who is going to understand what it is you do.’ I wish my mother could have seen the man I’d been praying for, the man she said did not exist, show up. It wasn’t an accident.”
‘Pregnant at 18, I heard, ‘You’re young, you’ll bounce back!’ It became etched in my mind. Stretch marks and loose skin? BAD.’: Mom learns to cherish postpartum body, ‘This body is my home’
“I tried all of the creams. For years, I wore only high-rise pants and would turn away from friends when we were getting dressed. I hated what I saw in the mirror. But one day, I looked down at my tummy and saw the ripples, the marks, the stretched belly button. And I smiled. This body is my home.”
‘Can you bring Layla to meet her new mom tomorrow?’ Never in their lives have the boys cried so hard, so long.’: Mom changes her mind, gives foster dog forever home, ‘She will always be right here’
“My husband and I ever-so-reluctantly agreed to foster a dog. And foster we meant! Then, we got the call. ‘Can you bring Layla to meet her new mom tomorrow?’ New mom? Tomorrow? I did not like the sound of either of those things. She still belonged to my family.”
‘How could someone do that?’ I was forced to become a single mom after a friend saw my husband with a married woman I knew.’: Woman marries dream man after divorce, ‘He is proof everything happens for a reason!’
“I wrote a list of things down I wanted in a man and circled the list in prayer. Two months after I finally stopped fighting for my old life, I met Ryan. ‘If you want to date me, you have to date my daughter.’ I was tough. I pushed back. I shared the good, the bad, the ugly. Without question, without a pause, without a doubt, he chose me. And he chose my daughter, too.”