“When she arrived, my sister didn’t know her name, didn’t know her face, didn’t know her story… but she knew this was the woman who had saved her life.”
‘This is the moment my sister met the woman who saved her life. She got caught in traffic and arrived literally minutes before my sister was about to walk down the aisle.’
‘Your dad isn’t ready to give up the cuddles he’s getting in Heaven yet. He knows this baby will never know him. He wants to get to know baby as long as possible first.’: Mom surprised with message from ‘beautiful person’ when she needed it most
“The last few weeks of pregnancy are the slowest. Your pelvis is on fire! Your hemorrhoids are raging. Your penguin waddle CLEARLY screams dilated-to-a-4! You whisper to yourself, ‘I’m going to be pregnant forever, aren’t I?’ But then, a stranger sent me a message.”
‘Hi, how are you?’ ‘Any weird fetishes?’ ‘Have all your teeth?’ Dating in your 40s is dumb. Widowhood is dumb. Spanx? Yeah, no. But I don’t want to be alone forever, so it’s a necessary evil.’
“When I was in my 20’s, dating was easy. I threw on something cute in a size 3 and went to parties. Sometimes I went to the wrong house, but you’d be surprised how nice people are when you show up with a 6-pack. Well, it’s not that easy anymore.”
‘My boyfriend is on the couch. ‘What is wrong?,’ he asks. ‘I’m pregnant.’ I said sobbing. He turned his TV show off and hugged me. ‘What do you want to do?,’ he asked me.’
“I was 19 and in college to be a teacher. Getting pregnant was the last thing on my mind. I had goals, aspirations, a dream career. Everything was going right. My boyfriend and I had only been dating for 6 months, we barely knew each other.”
‘Daddy, why does mommy sleep all the time now?’ Things I swore I’d never do, I started doing. ‘Mommy, you asked us the same questions three times!’ My husband begged me.’
“While Carl was out of town, I called him, but I don’t even remember. I knew I’d scared him. He’d felt helpless thousands of miles away while I was home with the kids. For the first time ever, I felt selfish.”
‘He crept in my room when my mother was working. My stepdad said she wanted me to do ‘those things’ to make him happy in her absence. I was afraid. I could trust no one.’
“I was told I was ‘Pretty for a big girl.’ Because I was overweight, I thought that would keep me safe. If I stayed fat, no one would want to touch me. My grandparents would ask me questions. Of course I denied it.”
‘My innocence was taken by a 19-year-old. We jumped into a ‘relationship.’ I let him take me into bed because ‘My innocence was already taken. Why did I need to pretend like I had it?’
“I felt like I was important and loved. A few months later, my mom took me to the doctor. I was pregnant, at 15 years old. He hit me in the back of my head multiple times but he took me to Taco Bell after, so he still loved me. Where else would I go anyway?”
Dear Society: If Your Friend Is Being Cheated On, Please Let Them Know
“If you love your friend, if you want to protect your friend, it IS your business. No matter what.”
‘If you EVER speak out, I know where the bullets are.’ I walked in the snow for miles in short sleeves. I woke up in the hospital, angry I survived, and pulled out all the hospital tubes.’
“I looked up from my bed and saw my mother and sister at the door. The look in their eyes is something I never want to see again. I feared that I had to be cured. I wish I had seen the warning signs.’
‘If you do that one more time, you’re going in TIME OUT.’ As soon as that door shut, she ran over to the couch. I thought, ‘Please get down. Don’t you know I’m the fun parent?! I do books, not time out!’
“Being a stepmom is so complicated. She’d only ask her dad for things. But then, hand-foot-and-mouth disease struck our house. My husband was down for the count – which left my stepdaughter completely reliant on me. Let the games begin.”