“I was afraid the doctor would put me in the nuthouse if I told her everything. How many 32-year olds have a full page of symptoms? I quickly lost 20 pounds.”
‘We’re letting you go.’ I was too sick to work. They bullied me for months and couldn’t handle my illness.’: Woman fights for mystery illness diagnosis, ‘I am chronically strong’
‘Cookies are not breakfast!’ They’re all crying. One fights me for 10 minutes to allow me the pleasure of wiping poop off his arse.’: Dad hilariously says ‘I’ve had a huge slice of humble pie’ after first ‘paternity leave’
“I hide for a bit. They find me like they’re sniffer dogs and I’m selling pills at a festival. I clear up the crafts, wishing whoever created slime a slow, gruesome death. They’re all crying now. They scream, ‘Daddy we’re bored of this film!’ repeatedly and very loudly.”
‘My 10 and 7-year-old girls asked for belly shirts. My knee-jerk reaction was, ‘No, that’s inappropriate.’: Mom ponders balancing body positivity with modesty, ‘I worry about how they will be perceived’
“‘I don’t know, I need time to think about it.’ Allowing my daughters to run around half-naked won’t change the perversion of a depraved mind. Where do we draw the line? And so here I am, thinking out loud.”
‘YOU’RE going to run? Your boobs are going to hit your face.’ I went to see a plastic surgeon at 16.’: Woman overcomes years of negative self image, ‘If you’re not feeling good on the inside, you’ll never feel good on the outside’
“I was told by my boyfriend, ‘You need to stop being mean to everyone just because you’re in a bad mood.’ I moved out with no money, no job, and no dog. Everyone who said, ‘We’re still your friend and we love you no matter what,’ didn’t stick around.”
‘We received a little boy almost 3 years old. We didn’t have enough clothes or toys, but the joy on his face was the biggest blessing in the world.’: Mom shares important lesson about foster care, ‘When people say it takes a village, it does’
“I didn’t really think about the impact us being a foster family would have on our extended family and our friends. They stepped in and helped us in so many ways, I can’t even count them.”
‘Wait for the heartbeat. Don’t fall in love too quickly.’ But sweet baby, I just can’t help it.’: Mom says ‘no matter what happens, I’ll always be your mama’
“You’re as real to me if you make it to 4 weeks than if you make it 40 weeks and in my arms. My love for cannot be quantified by the number of days you’re alive. Because my little secret about you is, I’ve always loved you.”
‘Can I use your phone? I need to call the police.’ This woman found it ‘funny’ to scare little black boys, and I am heartbroken.’: Mom of black son says ‘images of 1950’s racism are on my 2020 TV’
“The people listening to her story worked in education, and most of them found this story funny. So, instead of cutting the story off, they laughed. I am heartbroken. This is my response.”
‘I am the woman who is constantly OK, even when I’m not OK. Yesterday, I stopped pretending.’: Woman struggling with mental health during pandemic says ‘I pretend because I feel guilty’
“The morning toast burned a little too dark, and there was a small child melting down because of it. The computer timed out and the school work had to be started all over. I am the woman who has it all together. I was done pretending.”
‘My kids missed two consecutive Zoom meetings. My daughter started getting snarky, and my son who is not a crier was crying.’: Mom says ‘we will not just survive this, we will endure with grace’
“My middle child began to isolate. School assignments I would classify as easy we’d been blowing through for weeks were suddenly overwhelming each day, and I couldn’t even articulate why. Their mental health was declining.”
‘I don’t want to hurt you. I just feel so much pain all the time.’ I had to pick up his gun.’: Woman mourns little brother to suicide, ‘We will always grieve the loss of the man who kept us laughing’
“I sat alone in my car and screamed. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, buddy.’ That was my job throughout his entire life. I WAS SUPPOSED TO SAVE HIM. When I came back to myself, I was a different person.”