“My son, Bates, was only 7 years old. He started coughing up blood uncontrollably – over and over. It wouldn’t stop. I remember the horrific scene of him leaning over the sink. Earlier that day, I’d been frustrated with him for not remembering to put something away. In this moment, I realized how trivial it seemed.”
‘My daughters rushed across the hall. ‘Mommy, Bates is spitting up blood. You need to come.’ One of his arteries had opened in his throat.’: Mom urges ‘don’t take your children for granted’
‘I can’t wait for everything to get back to normal so I can pretend this never happened.’ I felt a pang in my chest.’: Woman urges ‘don’t give up on the safety of those around you’
“They proceeded to talk about planning a ‘social distance’ birthday party. By that, they meant they were going to cap it off at 25 guests. There was no talk of masks or staying 6 feet apart. In fact, they stressed that it is ‘probably okay’ since the pandemic would be ending soon anyway.”
‘I ran through the door screaming, ‘Joe!’ My heart sunk. My girl was telling me goodbye, I just didn’t know it.’: Baby passes due to Miller Dieker syndrome, ‘It’s not her death that changed me, but her very existence’
“The hardest thing was breaking our son’s heart. After shedding tears, he proudly wore his ‘Big Brother’ shirt the next day. He told me, ‘Even if sissy looks funny, I’m going to love her just the same. And if anyone makes fun of her, I’ll tell them she is who she is and we love her.’”
‘Turn on the lights. What’s wrong with my baby?’ He thrashed in my arms and went limp. Our perfect boy was unconscious.’: Baby boy saves 3 lives after passing from aneurysm, ‘There is beauty to be found in the ashes’
“Finn threw up in my arms before the paramedics arrived, but I never put him down. A social worker and chaplain ushered us into a small waiting room and told us, ‘This occuring was a 1 in 100 million chance.’ Something in me knew this was the end. I could feel my heart ripping from my chest. We were not giving up on our boy.”
‘I saw with my own two eyes, gay little boys almost beaten to death. I was young and accepted the church’s truth as my own.’: Man raised homophobic says ‘God taught me to love everyone, and I will do just that’
“I was taught that only women and men were meant to be in holy matrimony, and same sex marriage is a sin. I was raised to be homophobic, but I will raise my kids to love everyone. If I’m going to inspire change, I have to start with myself.”
‘I met another woman coming out of the office, bawling her eyes out. She, too, was going home to wait for that all too important phone call.’: Couple battles infertility for years, ‘It’s a horrible waiting game’
“I literally sat in my car down the road, screaming and crying for at least half an hour. They found I had stage 4 Endometriosis. Well, no wonder I had been having such painful cycles! Babies came easy to us. But not this time. Not for my second marriage.”
‘I’ve had 9 children, by myself. One passed away. I’m expecting, but I have no idea when my ‘due date’ is.’: Single mom fosters multiple children and has open adoption, ‘It’s all on me, baby!’
“I came to foster parenting by accident. Some women dream of having big families and becoming mothers, but not me. In fact, the older I got, the more sure I was that I never wanted children. Then my plot twist arrived. I had never seen a more beautiful baby in my whole life.”
‘She had tubes down her throat. She immediately grabbed my hand and wrote ‘I (heart) U’ with her finger in the palm.’: Woman grieves mothers death, ‘I lost her 10 days before I graduated college’
“She was so upset I was at the hospital versus at college studying for my final exams for my senior year. She kept writing ‘I am okay’ on a notepad. She held on a few moments longer. My last visual memory is her sitting up, waving goodbye because she was doing ‘better.’ I can’t help but think that was her plan all along.”
‘I know you’re thinking, ‘Wow she is really trashing IVF and praising adoption,’ and to that, I’d say, HELL YES, I AM!’: After adoption woman wishes she could travel back in time, ‘I would tell her to stop’
“This is a true story and I’m here to say what others might not. I was there. I wanted to love and be loved unconditionally.”
‘He’ll claim his place on your hip for a while, then in your heart forever. I thank God every day for choosing me to mother a baby boy.’: Boy mom says ‘nothing can prepare you for this kind of joy’
“Expect mud, expect stink. Expect him to grow wild and fast, expect to raise your voice. But most of all, expect more love than you could ever imagine. Truth is, nothing can ever really prepare you for this kind of joy and calling.”