“It was the 1950s. Sitting at Mae’s Grill with my buddies, a girl I’d recently broken up with called. ‘Shoot, you’ll end up going back steady with her.’ ‘Like hell I will!’ They didn’t believe me. When I picked up Joan to talk, my pals were in the trunk to hear it all. ‘Don’t make noise!’ I warned. Next thing I knew, the state trooper was at the side of my car. ‘I hope you don’t have any beer in the trunk!'”
‘The cop opened the trunk. Jack quickly put his hands up. ‘Don’t shoot!’ There, in the trunk, lay my friends.’: Man reminisces on the old days with his true friends thanks to StoryWorth
‘We were babies when we said our vows. Or, at least, that’s what everyone said. Nobody told us things would feel broken beyond repair.’: Woman realizes ‘nothing precious is ever truly broken’
“What absolutely nobody told us was at some point, no matter how much we loved each other, there would come a time when things felt broken beyond repair. We had seen couples split. Even couples we admired. But we figured that kind of brokenness was for people who didn’t love one another as much as we did. Like I said, we were young.”
‘She started hysterically laughing. ‘So far I’ve found 3.’ After already having twins! Complete shock.’: Mother births twins, then triplets, then twins again, ‘We were completely dumbfounded’
“It was EXTREMELY rare. After hearing the news, we walked across the street and got pedicures, because what else do you do when you find out you’re pregnant with triplets? After already having twins! I don’t think we said a word to each other the entire time – we were completely dumbfounded.”
‘I’m ‘too attached’ to my child.’ That was the biggest criticism I received. My relationship with my child is none of your business.’: Mom insists children can’t be ‘too attached’
“It started when he was a newborn. Family and friends saying I held him too much and I was going to spoil him.”
‘You are selfish, lazy, and will miss bonding with your baby.’ She was ‘outsourcing her responsibilities’ as a mother.’: Mom gets shamed for hiring night nurse
“‘I survived on no sleep, why does she think she’s so special?’ Look no further than a woman if you want a raw, unadulterated version of guilt on steroids. We seem almost destined to fail (or feel as if we’re failing) because of one primary assumption made of us — that we must participate constantly in our children’s lives. That’s the expectation.”
‘He scoffed at me. ‘Why are you depressed? You have a husband who loves you! Stop that. You’re fine!’: Woman opens up about battle with mental health, postpartum depression
“I was at work. One of my customers said, ‘How are you?’ I wanted to be honest. Test the waters on speaking how I really feel. ‘Ya know, I’m not doing too great. I’m dealing with serious depression. I’m not okay right now, I’m struggling.’ He scoffed at me. I replied, ‘I wish it was THAT easy.'”
‘I filed for divorce last Thursday,’ my husband said. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t screaming at him. My heart was shattering.’: Woman successfully co-parents with ex-husband for son’s sake, ‘He knows his mom and dad love him so very much’
“We did not go to court to fight over our son, as James’s parents had thought I would try to take him. But we sat down, talked, and through mediation, we legally share 50-50. James is an amazing father and a good man. And even though there are things he does in his personal life and with raising our son that I don’t always agree with, I know he wants the absolute best for him. It would be nothing but unfair and selfish to take that sweet boy away from his loving father.”
‘No one else has the guts to tell you, but you look like a crack addict.’ I was surrounded by a looming cloud of self-hatred.’: Woman beats lifelong battle with eating disorders, ‘I get up every day and fight for my life’
“Every time I leaned over my toilet and stuck my fingers down my throat, I would tell myself this was just what a disgusting person like me deserved. I was a shell of myself. I was too scared to kill myself. “Please don’t let me wake up.’ On the morning of my grandma’s funeral, I knew I was next.”
‘Mommy, can I sleep with you?’ Sleep was so very important to me. I’d give up food before sleep.’: Mom says when it comes to ‘sleep’ for now, her answer will always be ‘yes’
“I was particularly comfortable, stretched out in my tempur-pedic dream bed. I was mid-dream when I felt a poke. Startled, I looked up to find my son at my bedside. He leaned in and whispered, ‘Mommy, can I sleep with you?’ I looked at the clock. It was 1:18am. It’s been 700+ nights now, and each and every night he comes to my bedside.”
‘How will you afford it?’ ‘Are you giving up your career?’ It took me 3 years to take a chance. I’m sad I was so surprised.’: Mom realizes the power ‘I’m proud of you’ had on her as she faced difficult decision
“It took me 3 years to take a chance and take a year leave of absence. Three years of planning, asking opinions, making budgets, obsessing. When I put in my leave, I expected to hear, ‘how can you let the students down,’ ‘how will you afford it,’ ‘are you giving up your career,’ ‘have you really thought about this?’ Trust me, I did hear all of those comments and then some, but what really stuck with me were the unexpected responses.”