“I was scared people were going to think less of me. I kept saying to Ben, ‘I don’t know how these are going to turn out,’ over and over. Eventually, Ben cut me off. ‘You know I don’t care if these cookies are good, right? You know I’m not going to like you any less?’ And then it hit me. Find your Ben. Because I have mine.”
‘Ben was there for me. He picked me up off of the ground when I felt like my legs didn’t work anymore.’: Woman credits boyfriend for helping ‘calm’ her anxiety
‘Hey, are you alone? I don’t know how to tell you this, but mom just called. Jason died. He overdosed.’ That moment, everything STOPPED.’: Woman overcomes Adderall addiction, gets sober after brother dies of overdose, ‘my new life is full of magic, love’
“I sat on the floor of my balcony thinking about how I could hang myself but not wanting to do it for the sake of everyone outside. ‘This is all just a game.’ I missed a metal railing by a few inches and went straight into a ditch. I flipped 7 times, hit a tree and went airborne. The next thing I knew I was saying, ‘Jason? Jason, please don’t leave me.’ I was in a full-blown conversation with him. He was in the same white gown that I said goodbye to him at his funeral. ‘Cass, you are not alone, but you need to go back.’”
‘Do your kids know who Greta Thunberg is? Mine don’t, and it’s my fault.’
“Let’s talk to our kids about other children in this world who are doing good for it and the people in it. Let’s remind them that, even at a young age, they’re capable of making a difference. Encourage the heck out of them. Do your kids know all the good they can do? Mine don’t, and it’s my fault. But they will.”
‘TRIAGE. STAT. CHICKEN!!!’ The nurse jumped up and grabbed her walkie talkie. Everyone is staring at us, mouths agape.’: Mom recounts hilarious encounter with injured chicken
“We had just lost the squirrel and the hamster the week before – I just didn’t feel like the kids could handle yet another death. ‘Hi, I have a prescription to pick up,’ I said. ‘Patient name?’ the cashier nonchalantly asked. ‘Ummmmm Cockadoodledoo Evans?’ I responded. ‘Um, ok birthdate?’ she asked. ‘Ma’am I’m not really sure, it’s a chicken,’ I said.”
‘Why did you have another baby?’ I try to not bury myself with my son, but to live better because he had lived.’: Mom finds ‘gratitude’ in grief after losing son, ‘goodness is all around, if I just take a moment to see it’
“My new daughter sleeping should be a scene of total peace, and yet it’s terrifying. The ugly, hateful words swirl in my mind. ‘Life can’t really be good again, can it?’ ‘If something happens to her, then everyone will know what an awful mother you are.’ Child loss leads you to a crossroads—a choice between becoming bitter or becoming better.”
‘Our angel was beautiful. The most precious lips, tiny button nose. I memorized every inch of her. We sobbed.’: Mom says there was a ‘calm presence’ as she delivered stillborn daughter, ‘Our time with her will never feel like enough
“’My gut feelings usually are never wrong, especially about our children.’ I could not shake the sense that there were complications with the baby. ‘I believe there is something wrong with your baby’s head.’ I never once thought our sweet girl would die. She was perfect. I’ll never forget the weight of her laying on my chest. We read her stories and left her cheeks wet from tears. Her sister and brother got to meet her and love her.”
‘I picked up my Kindergartener from school. But her class was held in the cafeteria, not in her usual classroom. None of us will forget.’: Mom remembers Sandy Hook victims on 7-year anniversary
“Her brown curls bounced as she ran up to me with a smile on her face. She eagerly handed me a picture she drew that day. It was a colorful winter scene with penguins skating on a pond with the date 12/14. When my husband returned, he passed by the drawing, stopped and started counting. ‘Did you see what I saw?’ He pointed to the stars in the sky she had drawn. I counted them. Exactly 26.”
We Were 2 Hopeless Drug Addicts Society Had Written Off—Now We’re Sober Together
“I came from a good home. I didn’t suffer physical or sexual abuse. I didn’t feel ‘less than.’ I was a 3-sport athlete, excellent student. But I found a new love: drinking and getting high. My friend’s parents let us get wasted in their houses. I’d wake up, teeth chattering from withdrawals. I remember thinking, ‘I’m a college graduate! How did this happen?!’ Addiction had me whipped, and bad.”
‘I could’ve killed myself, or my precious son. I’m riddled with guilt. I’m so ashamed of things I’ve done in front of my child.’: Mother in the throes of addiction, ‘I don’t want to do it anymore. I want my son to have a sober mom’
“I have a toddler at home who I will not be able to take to get his picture with Santa. I will not be able to take him to see all the pretty Christmas lights. I sat in the shower and let the water run down my body as I cried. Then demons creep in. ‘It was boring getting high at home, taking care of a toddler all day. It would be fun to stay at a motel and just get high. I just want to do it ONE MORE TIME.’ I’m riddled with guilt. I’m so ashamed.”
‘Can I get arrested for yelling at my kids?’ I’m pretty sure my neighbors are terrified of me. I carry this anger the rest of the day.’: Mom explains she’s ‘so angry because ‘she’s actually ‘anxious’
“Brother is crying. I get mad. I yell. Sister is crying now. The sneakers I tripped over at bedtime have somehow separated and one is completely gone. Vaporized! EFFFFF!!!! We are now 10 minutes late. ‘Why is this room like this?!’ I yell at the top of my lungs. I carry this anger for the rest of the day.”