“’They won’t give you a diagnosis. You’re wasting your time.’ My heart sank. Two children with special needs? I barely made it to my car before I burst into tears.”
‘Let him be a kid. Stop trying to force medicine down his throat.’ I felt like I failed him.’: Woman has son with ADHD, daughter with Down syndrome, ‘Special needs do not have to be scary’
‘First they crawl, then walk. You delight in the progress. And then, for the first time, he calls you, ‘Mama.’: Mom says ‘the growing up is so very beautiful and heartbreakingly painful’
“All the other firsts eclipse as you hear that sweet word. And you know, without a doubt, he knows exactly what it means.”
‘Every time Rich comes to deliver, I’m in nice clothes. As his eyes climbed up, he stopped at my chest and looked away.’: Mom suffers hilarious wardrobe malfunction during delivery, ‘There were two dark dots staring at him’
“I heard a knock, and I knew it was Rich. My beloved. Bringer of dreams. Rich gave me his million dollar smile then the color drained from his face. I shut the door, go to the mirror to check out the damage. There were two dark dots staring at him.”
‘Mama, will that happen to me? I have black skin too.’ He wasn’t supposed to see the news clip, but there it was, out in the open.’: Woman urges ‘talk about racism, even if it’s uncomfortable’
“The news was on when two pairs of small feet walked into the room. A lanky 10-year-old and pint-sized 6-year-old boys. They caught a glipse of George Floyd. The image of a police officer with his knee on a Black man’s neck, squeezing the life out of him.”
‘My stomach was ‘without signs of life.’ I was uncontrollably weeping. The thing I was meant to do, I couldn’t.’: Woman recalls infertility and adoption journey, ‘Our world changed forever’
“I had pain no one could identify with no hope of healing. A crawling on my hands and knees kind of pain. I felt forgotten.”
‘He never complained; he just chugged along. It wasn’t easy. It almost felt like I was running.’: Wheelchair user with terminal illness thanks friend for his act of kindness
“There are many things I struggle with in regards to living with a terminal illness. Even if I did just a 5k one day, I could knock it off my list and enjoy the experience. Well, I sat on that goal for too long, and it never came to be. Fast forward to today: I came the closest I will to meeting that goal.”
‘Jack went to his classmate’s first birthday party, played with friends, and even sat down to sing before cake.’: Mom of twins learns important lesson, ‘We learned about the magic of autism’
“We began to see glimpses of the life we thought may be ahead for our boys. But then, something clicked. We learned about the magic of autism.”
‘I called the midwife at 4 a.m. She came in and immediately asked, ‘Where is HE from?’ She pointed at my husband.’: Woman in interracial marriage says ‘our story is beautiful, but racism is woven into it’
“I told my friend all about Emmanuel’s amazing qualities and pulled out my phone to show a photo of him. To my dismay she said, ‘Is he poor? Does he live in a mud hut?’ I was completely taken aback. It never crossed my mind others would not be as accepting as I was. Not long after, I left and never returned.”
‘The doctors described it as a ‘fire storm.’ She lost her sight overnight. It stole her spark.’: Woman raises awareness after losing mom to breast cancer, ‘I want my pain to be purposeful’
“She would forget simple, everyday tasks like school pick-up and turning the oven off. I did little to support or ease her recovery. The 13-year-old me had other priorities. The guilt will forever haunt me.”
‘Dear firstborn, I held you in the hospital and knew our lives had seismically shifted. I am so lucky God gave you to me.’: Mom pens touching letter to firstborn child
“I discovered a sea of love in my heart that had no beginning and no end. I wouldn’t change a single thing on the road that brought you to me.”