“My friend said, ‘Don’t fly too high. Don’t have dreams of being with her.’ I kissed her and she pulled away. She said her father doesn’t like me. I’ve tried so many things to impress him and earn his approval. He hasn’t seen it with his head or his heart.”
‘You are a better person with her.’ Sadly, her father doesn’t like me and had men try to beat us to death.’: Man has to accept being without love of his life because he wasn’t accepted by her family, turns to God
‘I carried his ashes. I carried them in a box all over the airport. I didn’t want to put him on the floor. It didn’t feel right.’: Woman’s journey to return her husband’s ashes to his home
“Before we boarded our plane in Atlanta, I took his remains to the exact spot we touched when he flew into Atlanta. I laid the box down on the exact tile we stood on. The captain came by to give his condolences and let us know that he was honored to take him home and that we would get him there as fast as possible. I couldn’t even squeak out a word when he came by. I just nodded and cried.”
‘People would make jokes about my sister. ‘You can date her since she’s not your REAL sister.’: Korean adoptee reveals the impact racism had on his teenage years, says ‘If I could go back in time, I would speak up’
“As an Asian American child in a ‘white person land,’ I would get picked on as a kid at school for looking different. Megan experienced the same Asian jokes and discrimination I did during childhood. The moment of me proposing is such a blur. I think I blacked out!”
‘I am a C-section-having, formula-feeding, disposable diaper, working kind of mom. I do not regret it.’: Mom explains her parenting choices, ‘Please respect my parenting views as I’ve always tried to respect yours’
“I discipline my girls. I am pro-vaccine. I typically use a small chair I refurnished titled, ‘Thinking Spot.’ I work so my girls will grow up seeing I am working in my dream job, literally. I want them to know it’s possible to have their dream, just as I’m living mine.”
‘I was at your house earlier getting my car seat and I just can’t believe how messy your house is! I don’t know how you all live like that!’: Working mom gets receives criticism on her ‘messy house’ at worst possible moment
“I’m overwhelmed. I don’t have time to clean the house to perfection every day. My phone dings. It’s my mother.”
‘She pointed to the TV to distract us. We looked back, and she was gone.’ That was the moment I became an adult orphan.’: Woman earns college degree in honor of late mother, jumpstarts grief support groups
“At 9:00 a.m. my sister called with the news. I was at work, in the midst of a project. We hung up and I don’t even remember breathing. ‘I have to leave for a week,’ I told my supervisor. As my sister was driving, the sun was warm in her van. I discovered my chest wasn’t feeling heavy anymore. Inner warmth just filled me. So much was going to change.”
‘I was offered a ‘fashion model’ job. Naive, I took it. It was a false company ran by dead people in other states.’: Human trafficking survivor speaks out, ‘I never thought it would happen to me’
“I was a junior in college who’d just lost my scholarship. I needed money to pay my tuition, so I took the job. I was a small town girl, self-absorbed in my own world. Maybe I was too young, or too naive. I thought it was a ‘black or hispanic problem’ in the urban city. Over the course of a few months, my life came to an abrupt halt. This was anything but a modeling agency.”
‘I feel off. It could be minor. I don’t know. I just know something is off.’ My friend diagnosed me with perimenopause. ‘That’s not what I’m dealing with.’: Woman anxiously awaits results over holidays to see if cancer has returned, ‘We don’t want to worry our kids’
“Christmas feels different this year. I’m having a really hard time getting into the holiday spirit. Hours after getting my pelvic ultrasound done, my phone rang.You never want to hear words like complex, stat, and concern from your doctor. I decided to not tell a soul. I thought I was being brave. I thought I was saving others from getting all worked up. I thought I was being selfless. Ryan and I have been talking about when to tell our kids, or if we even should.”
‘She wanted a dog so bad she couldn’t see straight. So, he got her a fake one. She loved it – for 48 hours.’: Widow recalls touching memory of late husband with daughter on Christmas, ‘This is what grief looks like’
“On Christmas morning, she found her hidden puppy. She loved it like she said she would. For 48 hours. My husband was not a dumb man. He knew he needed to return the $300 robo-pup after she lost interest so quickly, but was still concerned her heart would break if she noticed the canine was gone. So, he did the only thing a sane man could think of. He tore a hole in the side of the box and told her he ran away. He would do anything our sweet daughter wanted him to do. Until he couldn’t any longer.”
‘You are our baby!’ We bought an ornament to remember the special day of becoming Daddy and Papa.’: Dad recalls how meaning of Christmas changed after adopting baby
“I spent Christmas Day staring at Sunset Boulevard, saying to myself, ‘I wish I was back in New Orleans.’ It was my home. And in just 10 years, from that very moment of despair, my husband and I would be welcoming our newborn daughter home. Now, every choice we make revolves around her. Every holiday is about her.”