“I was sick of being a secret, as if it was wrong or dirty, as if our love wasn’t acceptable. I returned home to find a sign on my gate door saying, ‘this way to happy ever after.’ I thought nothing of it. Zaynah stood there looking as pretty as a picture with a Build-A-Bear teddy and a rose which said, ‘I Love You, Will You Marry Me?’“
‘We were two girls having fun, or so we thought. We loved each other at 16-years-old.’: Young women fall in love in secret and worry about their love being ‘accepted’
‘Come get her. I don’t want her. I can’t afford her,’ but she always took her back. Years went by. Then I got a phone call.’: Woman reunites with the ‘daughter’ she was meant to adopt
“I got on the bus. A pregnant woman was struggling with trash bags and 2 toddlers. After talking with me for 20 hours, she was open to me adopting her child. I was over the moon!”
‘He swears he won’t do it again. He’s broken over this. I deserved it. It’s okay. My jaw isn’t bruised that bad.’
“The two extremes of how you loved me so gently, and also tore my soul to shreds so easily. When you punched me so hard I couldn’t close my mouth. How could you be both those things in one man – and how could I love someone who healed me, and hurt me, all in the same movements.”
‘There was a catch. This boy was technically a man. At 20-years-old, our sexual relationship was illegal. After hiding our meetups, I came home to find a police officer on my couch.’: Woman learns to love herself after tumultuous relationships
“My first true love went to jail, and I became a small-town girl with an over-sexualized reputation. Teachers hit on me. Dads from the daycare I worked at stalked me. I was ridiculed, taunted, labeled easy. Enter more boys.”
‘It’s just something everyone does and I was better at it than most. It was a bandage covering a gaping wound I refused to address. Deep down, I knew.’
“Escaping anxiety, suppressing depression, avoiding life for just a few hours. But what Jessica wants to do in the end is always what Jessica is going to do.”
‘But that won’t be the case for you,’ he said. I was 18 weeks pregnant when I was told to ‘just terminate’ the life of my unborn baby.
“I was told to terminate his life because there was very little chance he would survive pregnancy. And if by some miracle he did, he would most certainly endure a life of suffering marked by severe disabilities.”
‘I completely forgot I was pregnant, or that I was even married. I was only 21. It was a nightmare.’: Woman suffers amnesia in car accident
“The day before we were to be induced we were hit head on by a fatigued driver. We were a mile down the road when we were hit head on. We were in my hometown for my little sister’s high school graduation, preparing our soon-to-be home before our sweet baby girl’s due date.”
‘She seemed off. Not eating, stomach aches, lying around. The pediatrician basically laughed at Tim, confused why they were there. How did all the doctors miss it?’
“It started with a fever, and then her limp would get bad and she would be up all-night crying and screaming in pain. Eventually she slept in our bed because I couldn’t keep going back and forth to her room. What about our other daughter, Lily?! We were going to have a new baby almost any time! I immediately left the room and sobbed.”
‘Dad needs you! There’s water everywhere!’ I run downstairs, my husband is on his knees under the sink, water gushing all over everything! ‘Where’s the valve to shut it off?’ ‘We need the ‘special key!’
“I run outside, half naked, looking around in the moonlight for this shut-off valve… I throw on some clothes and grab my phone to Google. ‘You had time to put on skinny jeans?!?’”
‘I’m busy right now,’ he said. I describe my 11-year-old as a slug of a boy. He was playing on the laptop, wearing sweatpants, on the sofa, feet on the coffee table.’: Father realizes he’s never been ‘prouder’ of his son
“‘No, you’re not,’ I said. There was a fight, moaning, excuses… the usual. He looked at me with flat eyes, his hood up, shoulders slumped, and said, ‘Why do we have to do this?’ The next day, my wife sent me this picture.”