“’I have something I need to tell you in person,’ I texted him. He was too busy. He gave me no other choice. ‘I tested positive for herpes,’ I typed. Sent.”
‘You should’ve worn a condom,’ the nurse uttered over the phone.’: Woman learns to live with herpes and strives to help others
‘Aww, You’re such a freak of nature!’ I stood there, with my own obvious difference, unsure of what to say. Because I’ve been there. ‘Two-face.’ ‘Ugly.’ ‘Freak.’
“I went to the animal shelter to look at puppies. Then I saw her. She has extra claws on her back paws. I ranted. I raved. If that’s what she thought about a dog in her care, what was she thinking about the customer standing in front of her with half of a purple face?”
‘I’ve never seen anything like this before,’ a nurse said. I could hear everything. I could hear the panic and confusion. But I couldn’t react. I wondered if it was me who was dead.’
“They were on video chat with a doctor from a different hospital. They told me something rare happened, something no one in this hospital has ever seen. This doctor was the only one who knew exactly what to do. It’s been 2 years, but today, we happened to be back at the hospital where he happened to be working.”
‘It was April Fool’s Day, and I woke up crying. There was nothing funny about today, for me. My husband had a vasectomy. I was 34 years old.’
“My husband’s father looked up from his paper. ‘Your cousin is losing his rights to his child and is looking for someone in the family to adopt her.’ And just like that, he went back to reading his paper. We both looked at each other. He didn’t even have to ask me. ‘Yes, us.'”
‘I heard my brother yell, ‘Luke, move!’ I felt something hit my head. I instantly felt sick. I saw a gray beard, a man and his fist.’: Young man attacked for simply being gay, ‘I refuse to lose hope’
“I stood in the living room, my hands shaking. I looked my mother in eye as she said, ‘What’s this important news you have?’ I nervously said, ‘Promise you won’t hate me?’ A look of concern crossed her face. I blurted out, ‘I’m gay, I have a boyfriend.’”
‘On our honeymoon, I saw the DARKER side of my husband. My heart was beating out of my chest as he whispered in my ear, ‘You… are NOT going to tell me what to do.’: Woman overcomes domestic abuse, meets man she deserves
“I went to my bedroom and packed everything as fast as I could. My phone pinged. ‘You’ve got 1 new voicemail!”
‘My son complained of pain in his abdomen. When he started throwing up, I thought, ‘Maybe he ate something bad.’ I was in denial.’: Mom shares son’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis, advocates for affordable insulin
“We had no family history of it. When we got the news, I was thinking we had some quack doctor in the middle of the desert trying to diagnose my son by smelling his breath. He added, ‘If you waited 3 hours, he would’ve died in the car.’ My heart broke into a million pieces.”
‘He hated me for leaving him. I hated that he destroyed us. But most of all, I hated that he couldn’t JUST. BE. HAPPY.’
“We were so happy, trying to have a baby, talking marriage. A month later, I got the call I’ll never forget.‘Tom overdosed last night. They think it was accidental… pills and vodka.’ I kept repeating, ‘What am I supposed to do? What do I do now?’ I’d never felt so lost in my life.”
‘Either pregnancy is harder with age or we’re having twins.’ ‘Actually, there’s 3.’ Um, excuse me!: Mom delivers baby with Down Syndrome, gets surprise triplet pregnancy right after
“Our son with Down syndrome had just battled multiple heart failures and a stroke. Us: ‘Let’s have another kid.’ Universe: ‘Hold my beer.’ Our life was like a TV show playing out in real time.”
How My Ex And I Began Our Peaceful Co-Parenting Journey
“There we were, in and out of court, screaming in the street during drop-off like a Jerry Springer episode. At some point we realized it’s easier to put our differences aside and to co-parent these kids together.”