“It’s a mild, dreary February day in southeast Kentucky. It’s WWII exam day. 50 multiple choice questions, 100 points. Exams are distributed, students read and bubble, time passes. One student hands me his answer sheet and turns. As he walks away, I notice an asterisked note across the page. ‘Wait, what?’ So many questions rush in.”
‘If you could, can you give my bonus points away to whoever scores the lowest?’: History teacher touched by student’s act of kindness, ‘I was the one taught a lesson that day’
‘We don’t want to hear you’re ‘sorry’ for us. We don’t want to ‘fix’ her. We thought being gay was sinful. Let us be clear: WE WERE WRONG.’: Family ‘honored’ gay daughter came out of the closet
“Our 15-year-old daughter Helena came out to us as gay. It wasn’t a surprise to us. Long ago we thought being gay was sinful and wrong. Let us be clear: WE WERE WRONG. Jeremy and I love who our daughter is and someday, when she is ready, we will love who she loves because she loves them.”
‘You think you’re tired now? Just wait.’ Can we drop the ‘I’m more tired than you’ act and just lift each other up? I’m sick of this motherhood competition.’: Mom urges ‘just wait mama, it only gets better’
“‘Dear excited pregnant mom, you think you’re tired now? Just wait until your baby won’t sleep, your nipples ache, and you fight with your husband nonstop. You’ll probably get depressed, never get your body back, your house will always be a disaster, and your social life with disappear.’ Why is this the basic ‘welcome to motherhood’ letter being sent out? I received it. Many of my friends did. I suspect you did, too.”
‘He was more than a friend. He was her protector. The one at school to rescue her from a tough day. I will never forget him.’: After daughter loses close friend, dad remembers his legacy, ‘He will live on in us’
“They were neighbors, classmates since kindergarten. As a father, you cross your fingers teenage boys and men in her life will respect and protect her. She didn’t know it, but 6,000 miles away, tragedy would strike and change her life forever.”
‘I was crying uncontrollably. There was no heartbeat. I tried to pray, but all I could say was ‘Hail Mary,’ over and over. It felt like a sick joke.’: Mom loses son to pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, ‘He would have turned 7 this year’
“They tried to run an IV through my swollen, bruised hands. I nearly passed out. I remember someone slapping my cheek a little. I was completely naked on the table, shaking uncontrollably. We heard the doctor say, ‘Baby.’ There was no crying, no sound at all. The first time we got to hold him was also the last.”
‘As soon as you birth your baby, you’re a different person. Take it and run. You’re now a mama before anything else. There is no higher title than that.’: New mom shares candid reality of first-time motherhood
“They don’t tell you you’re going to cry. A lot. You dropped that pacifier on the floor? Might as well throw in the towel. According to your postpartum brain, your partner will NEVER do it right. Your ‘friends’ will drop you like it doesn’t even phase them. You’ll check your baby’s breathing every few minutes. Whether you breastfeed or formula feed, it hurts. Someone will always have something to say.”
‘The nurse kept asking, ‘Are you ready to take her off life support?’ She knelt down with her stethoscope and confirmed she was gone.’: Mom loses 3 babies to kidney disease, ‘We love harder and hug tighter’
“My entire future was dark. How was I going to keep living when my baby died? We were always waiting to find out if our baby would die and now we were waiting to find out if we’d have a baby that would live. That moment was when the world stood still. We were pregnant for the fourth time.”
‘Today I sat in my car, in last night’s pajamas, and cried. Like, junior high first breakup kinda’ cry.’: Mom reminds us it’s okay to have a rough season, ‘Sometimes life can be a lot’
“Sometimes motherhood can be a lot. Sometimes marriage can be a lot. Sometimes a career can be a lot. And sometimes? Sometimes it just feels like a lot all at once.”
‘What kind of woman carries a baby for two men?’ I decided to help a stranger. They say it takes a village to raise a baby. Sometimes, it takes a village just to grow one.’: Woman becomes surrogate to help couples battling infertility
“I will never forget our transfer day. She told me, ‘Today is so hard. This is the moment I have to accept the fact I will never carry my own baby.’ Those words hit me hard. 15 weeks in, I began having horrible headaches. I knew it wasn’t just pregnancy paranoia. I called the Intended Mom at 2 a.m. to get permission to remove her baby from my body. There was no heartbeat. Her journey ended with me. I knew I couldn’t give up.”
‘7 months pregnant with his baby, he offered me some meth. I went on a 4-day bender. I wasn’t strong enough to resist.’: Woman survives domestic abuse, says ‘I am living proof there can be a happy ending’
“Every time people saw me, there was another new bruise or broken bone. The night before Johnny gave me some meth and pills, CPS said they had to come and do an assessment. He immediately told the worker I had been ‘up doing drugs all night.’ That night was the beginning of the end.”