Emily Richey is a graduate of Pace University NYC. She has written and edited for multiple online platforms, including Love What Matters. She spends her free time petting stray cats.
‘I was tired of coughing up blood. People stared at the sick girl carrying the oxygen tank on her back. I had enough!’: Woman with Cystic Fibrosis survives double lung transplant
“At 16, my health deteriorated. I was oxygen-dependent 24 hours a day. I was tired of being breathless all the time and coughing non-stop. One morning, that life-changing phone call came.”
10 Ways To Love Yourself Through Caregiver Burnout
“Within the first year of parenting, we were in the trenches.”
‘What’s that on your neck?’ They thought it was a disease. ‘Are you contagious?’: Man with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 talks overcoming bullying
“When I turned 6, something began to grow on me. I was at my wit’s end with the torment. ‘I’ll never find happiness.’ Still, I knew there was purpose.”
‘I don’t think my heart can handle this.’ There was a newborn who needed a home. ‘If not me, then who?’: Family opens ‘hearts and home’ to foster care during pandemic
“As long as it means a child is safe and loved, I’m willing for my heart to be broken, over and over again.”
‘It’s not her, it’s him. She isn’t leaving.’ I sat there, wide-eyed, waiting for them to explain. I thought I was hurting my baby.’: Preemie warrior graduates NICU after emotional 67-day stay
“I told my husband I was heading to the hospital for fluids. ‘Same story, different day?’ The nurse turned the monitors away from me. That’s when everything changed.”
‘Are you constantly aware of your heartbeat?’ I was confused. Couldn’t everyone feel their heartbeat all the time?.’: Woman overcomes two open-heart surgeries
“I vividly remember putting my signature on a piece of paper that said, ‘Side effects: stroke and death.’ I turned to my family and said, ‘I’ve just signed my life away.'”
‘You’re newly pregnant and this little girl is a lot of work. If you need us to find her a new home, it’s okay.’ I didn’t want an ‘easier’ kid. I wanted her.’: Foster mom shares special needs adoption
“The social worker said, ‘This is the largest file I have.’ So much was going on. There was an intense amount of outer, anger, and lies. It broke me she was legally an orphan.”
‘I recorded a video for my daughter in case I didn’t make it. ‘Mommy loves you more than life itself.’ It was suffocating.’: Mom undergoes second open-heart surgery, ‘Every day, I wake up grateful’
“I walked to my car, sobbing. This wasn’t the news I had expected. Suddenly, every scenario of my daughter growing up without a mom went flashing through my mind.”
‘My stepdaughter took a shirt from my hands. ‘This is how my mom does it.’ It felt like a harsh slap back to reality.’: Stepmom shares journey blending families, ‘I love them all equally’
“I didn’t know who I was to them. ‘One day, I’ll have my own.’ I built up so many expectations of this little baby. I’d never feel like I didn’t belong in my family again.”
‘I’ve lived a selfish life. I want to do something meaningful.’ It became my passion to help someone else create their family.’: Woman shares surrogacy journey
“I struggled with bleeding. ‘Do you want to continue?’ I hadn’t expected this, but it wasn’t going to deter me. I was ready to try again.”