“‘I sat in my room, talking to him and waiting for my husband, a start of what was sure to be another boring day of quarantine thanks to COVID-19. ‘I saw something on the news about a shooting.’ He was certain it was my brother. I picked up my phone to discover a 3-minute voicemail from my dad of nothing but screaming and chaos.”
‘He is dead.’ There was blood on the rug and table. This was the place he died, where he took his last breath. It was unreal.’: Woman mourns death of brother, ‘My life will never be the same’
‘On the days the world feels a little too scary and a little less safe, I will always be there to wipe away the tears.’: Mom comforts daughter though ‘scary times’
“As your mom, I wanted to tell you that everything would be okay. That the world as you knew it would return to normal soon. But the truth is, it probably won’t. I held you as the first teardrop formed in the corner of your eyes. And, in a blink, the flood gates were unleashed.”
‘She didn’t sign any papers. Maybe I wasn’t given up. Perhaps, I was taken, or she was told I died.’: Adoptee searches for biological mother, answers to her past
“We were nationally unwanted children. It is not always the romantic picture of children being ‘saved.’ My only connection to my past is my genes.”
‘The ultrasound tech got quiet. He dug into my stomach. ‘We can’t find her limb. Termination is always an option.’: Special needs mom says daughter has ‘changed my life for the better’
“We were newlyweds. I took a pregnancy test, honestly not expecting it to say PREGNANT. I felt a rush of emotions. ‘What are people going to think?’ The morning after the ultrasound, the nurse said, ‘Her esophagus isn’t connected to her stomach.’ She went in for surgery at 4 days old. ‘We found something else.’ How could the doctors have missed this? ‘We need to cut both sides of her chest.'”
‘He told me, ‘It’s all in your head.’ I hoped something bad would happen to me so I’d be taken seriously.’: High schooler diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension undergoes open heart surgery, ‘I’m grateful for this second chance at life’
“Band camp started. I was having trouble breathing and couldn’t walk to class. I was given an inhaler to use, but it didn’t help. One specialist said I would never get better.”
‘I decided not to push reading with our second daughter. I don’t believe college is the main goal. I don’t think college is for everyone.’: Mom advocates for homeschooling, ‘It prepares our children for the real world’
“It’s my belief ‘unschooling’ prepares our children for the real world more than any classroom ever could. My biggest fear of walking into homeschooling was teaching our daughters how to read. It seemed so overwhelming. Our daughter wasn’t happy either.”
‘How much longer before my 8-year-old son grows from cute to a threat?’: Mom urges ‘please raise your children not to fear mine’
“I want to cherish these sweet moments of his childhood. Soon, I can no longer protect this beautiful black boy from being seen as weapon. Soon, those ‘cute’ and ‘sweet’ compliments will fade, and none of it will matter because he is BLACK.”
‘She told her daughter, ‘I’m sorry.’ She gave her a kiss and handed her to me. She left without her baby.’: Woman becomes close to birth mom during adoption, ‘There is no love without loss’
“Within a couple of days, she said, ‘If you want to choose me, I want to choose you.’ It became official. I was shaking. I’m not blind to the fact that in order to call her mine, there was a lot of hurt that had to take place.”
‘Today I sobbed in my car. He wanted to take her to a concert with matching shirts. Her daddy was the biggest undercover Swifty.’: Widow writes gratitude lists during grief journey, ‘I have to remind myself this is only temporary’
“My daughter has been playing Taylor Swift on repeat. Songs trigger things. Even angsty teenagey songs. While the rain poured down on my drive home alone, I sobbed. I would give anything to hear him say ‘Hey, Mama!’ to my mom again.”
‘I remember one Christmas telling Daddy I was probably too old for dolls and he said, ‘You wouldn’t want just one more?’: Bonny shares childhood memories thanks to StoryWorth
“I went over to the bushes by the road, got down on my knees, and asked God to help me win. We then began our race. I knew the odds were stacked against me. A child’s imagination is a special gift.”