“He had another daughter I didn’t know about. I did some digging and found empty pill bottles and beer cans in his car. The car that drove my child to daycare. At 32, I had to move back in to my childhood bedroom, so ashamed of myself. My daughter and I tried to make the best of our ‘vacation’ as I called it. My husband was an addict and con artist, and I got duped.”
‘My husband was living a double life. I found YEARS of mail in his trunk. He changed the locks, abandoned me in a parking lot.’: Woman re-marries ‘amazing’ man she met on blind date, says ‘love always wins in the end’
‘STEFANY! Are you out with someone else? Don’t you love me anymore? CALL ME BACK!’ Finally, I went home. ‘We have to break up.’ He starts sobbing. ‘Who is HE?!’ Something in me snapped.’
“He picked me up in his fancy car. Rented us a beach front hotel with a balcony. We had our first kiss. It was perfect. When I got home, one of his friends tried to warn me. Told me to be careful.”
‘Is he gone?!,’ I yelled. It wasn’t my husband. He was so excited to be a dad. He was born to be one. I held his hand, telling him how much his unborn son and I loved him.’: Wife loses husband right before giving birth
“Scott just started a new job. We bought a house and were moving. He started not feeling well, but we attributed it to the stress of everything changing in our life. He went to work after getting me settled in the hospital. When he came back, he looked pale. I told him to get some rest, I would be just fine.”
‘Someone at school told me you’re gay.’ I couldn’t keep this secret any longer. I poured my heart out to her. I thought I’d lost my friend. Until my phone pinged. ‘I like you, too.’
“We hid, for months. People started to suspect our relationship. We were pelted with rocks while waiting for the bus. We were spat on. Soon, her mom found out. They moved her 10 hours away. I barely had any contact with her. As the train arrived on the platform, she was waiting for me.”
‘Motherhood is not a funeral to your old life. You don’t need to mourn it anymore. What makes ME happy? No more guilt.’
“Do you ever sit down at the end of the night, after wiping down another counter, and think, where have I gone? When the only time you have to yourself is the 5 minutes you lay in bed utterly exhausted and fight to stay awake to just have one minute, one second, to be yourself again. Do you ever miss the old you? Me too.”
‘An hour before our flight, I got a text. ‘WATER BROKE BRING CAR SEAT!!!’ We couldn’t believe it! We were off to meet our baby boy. ‘I have news. Call me back,’ she said on the voicemail.’
“We waited in the parking lot, for hours. She ended up getting sick. It was a very contagious infection that ended up spreading to the baby. My husband cried. He couldn’t believe people were so kind.”
‘This is it Kassandra, you’re going to die, so let go. I hope everyone knows I love them.’ No more than a second later, I said to myself, ‘It’s okay, don’t be afraid. There’s nothing you can do.’
“Candice started smacking my face and yelling my name to get me to respond.”
‘At my lowest point, I snapped and bought a gun. I was almost a school shooter.’: Man overcomes abusive childhood, bullying, ‘Kindness stopped me from doing the worst thing imaginable’
“When you’ve been told you’re ‘worthless’ enough times, you’ll believe it. I had no home and often slept outdoors. The isolation and bullying became unbearable. I wanted to feel an emotion other than pain. I wanted to feel, for once, like I was in control. If I’d possessed a rifle, I would have been a killer. If I’d known love, I would have never wanted a rifle.”
‘We don’t know how much time he has left. ‘Jason, I cannot lose one more moment.’ My husband nodded his head. ‘I know,’ he said. These will be our last family photos.’
“I wanted to save my son’s smile and innocence, since I couldn’t save him. When the end happens, I will have these memories to remind me of the wonderful times we had fighting a horrid disease. I will have those beautiful blue eyes I saw for the first time when he came into this world.”
‘Thank you for making me a Mommy,’ I whispered. We held each other and cried. We are BOTH her mom. I knew the connection was real. There’s no one else I’d rather do this with.’
“I have no idea how we ended up married. Being friends for years first, I knew about his cancer diagnosis, and the treatment that left him infertile. She called us. I was so nervous. But when I heard her voice, I just knew.”