“I remember them pushing on my stomach trying to get it out and seeing the fear in my doctors’ faces. ’Kiera, we are going to have to take you right into surgery.’ I couldn’t believe it. Was it something I did? Where is everyone talking about the complications that can go wrong? I try and remember that having two healthy, fed kids is all that matters.”
‘I was told I should be grateful for being able to have kids in the first place.’: Mom advocates for others with postpartum depression, ‘Don’t ever feel alone in this.’
‘The first thing he asks is, ‘Has your lower back been bothering you?’ I know what that means. Something is wrong.’: Mom diagnosed with Stage 4 Sarcoma says cancer is ‘loneliest road I’ve ever taken’
“’Oh man, is she okay?’ I’m really not. ‘Will my kids be without a mom? I’m not ready to go! I want to be here!’ I found out my cancer was Stage 4. I’m only 33 years old. I’ve never been so angry. You feel like the curtains are closing, and this is it.”
‘If you can’t respect me and your Dad, don’t come to MY family’s Christmas celebrations.’ Pump the brakes, crazy lady.’: Woman ‘bitter’ over tumultuous upbringing, but learns to ‘forgive’ after all the hurt
“You married her when I was 3. I wasn’t at your wedding. I was maliciously sent to Chicago by my mother, just to get back at you. Remember that time you came to my Grandma’s and literally kidnapped me? Dragging me down the hill, kicking and screaming, you trying to hush me? I was 4. This is one of my earliest memories. Tragic. My kids don’t know you. But that seems to be a pattern in this family.”
‘Let’s get pregnant together!’ Two single women, we decided to do this on our own. We couldn’t wait any longer.’: Two friends join forces to become ‘single moms by choice’
“We both wanted to be moms. Forever. Ever since we can remember. We dated many boys, men, and a few gentlemen. Unfortunately, none of those relationships turned into our fairy tale. One day, we hope to get married and have a spouse, but we couldn’t give up on children if that man never came around. We had to do this together.”
‘When my boyfriend broke up with me, I had the strangest reaction. I was relieved. I literally thanked him.’: Woman ‘gave up’ on distracting herself with relationships, ‘I am living whole and free for the first time’
“I really loved him, so I was caught off guard by my own response to him ending our romantic relationship. ‘Wait, shouldn’t I be sad? Shouldn’t I be crying or something?’ My dating self was cool, sexy, and mysterious. I knew how to seduce and intrigue men. I played the game well.”
‘Sweetie, do you have someone you can call?’ I ask, ‘Is he going to die? OMG, I have to tell my boys.’: After losing husband to sudden stroke, widow finds love again, ‘When we first hugged, he was like home to me’
“I was DONE dating after I found out a guy I was talking to was married. ‘There’s this lawyer I see in court. Every time I see him, I think I should introduce you two,’ my cousin told me. Before I could say how crazy she was, she introduced us online. I knew immediately he was different and special. As his arms wrapped around my waist, I knew these were the arms I would be in for the rest of my life.”
‘My 9-year-old said, ‘I want to eat something I used to eat with my old family. Sometimes, I like to remember how strong I had to be.’: Foster mom shares heartbreaking story of son’s trauma, ‘We must not give up on our kids’
“He said his old parents wouldn’t feed him due to being passed out. All their money was spent on cigarettes and other ‘fun things.’ At age 6, he would find change in their van, buy Ramen packets at the store down the street, and make dinner for himself and his brothers (ages 2 and 4 months). He didn’t know how to boil water, so he had to eat it raw. ‘I’m not sad I’m not with my old family anymore, but sometimes I like to remember how strong I had to be.'”
‘Go home. You’re cured.’ The same day there was an urgent message on my phone. I didn’t want to spoil Christmas.’: Woman diagnosed with Stage 4 breast, lung, liver cancer, ‘I decided to take back control’
“I genuinely thought it would all be fine. I ate a healthy diet, was fit and healthy. I just couldn’t believe it. I was in a trance. Numb. There was yet another tumor, in a third place. I rang the cancer helpline. I tried to speak, but just cried. The poor person on the end just listened to me sob for 15 minutes without a break. I needed to get it all out of my system.”
‘I’m doing the best I can,’ I said to my husband. I felt a tear hit my cheek. It was one of those nights.’: Woman reminds us to ‘be kind’ to exhausted mothers, ‘she is doing her absolute best’
“I was in pajamas by 4 p.m., my hair had questionable things in it, and I had on a stained sweater I probably should have washed a few days ago. My husband got home and walked in on me cooking burnt grilled cheese, for the third time. I threw my hands up in the air. ‘I give up!’ I thought I would be better at this whole mom and wife thing. But the truth is, I am doing my best.”
‘I’m so sad you have such a gift with kids and you’ll never have a baby of your own.’: Woman shares single mother by choice journey
“’I’ll just take him to the living room,’ I said to my sister who was in mid-conversation, talking about what it’s like being a new mom. That was when my grandmother spoke. In one line she had evaluated my situation—single, 36, unmarried—and concluded my childless fate. What was my life? I thought I’d done everything right.”