“I wanted to see what the US had to offer. Spending time with the family. Making new memories. Laughing. Eating. Drinking. Having fun. Thanks to COVID-19, that may be the new way to travel for many.”
‘Every day is an adventure. We explore, parasail, and eat… a lot!’: Family says ‘I can’t wait to pull out the map again’
‘I thought he had a cold. His eyes were watery. That Sunday when I got home, he was sicker than ever. It was time, we both knew.’: Woman adopts injured cat after losing childhood pet, ‘I learned how to open my heart’
“Ginger’s decline was quick but painful. I had to go away the weekend before he died, and I didn’t feel right about it. I convinced myself it was okay to go. He would bounce back like he always did. I was wrong. My cat of 17 years died on Valentine’s Day a few short months after I officially adopted him.”
‘Someone put in an offer on our home in the middle of this pandemic. Our mortgage couldn’t be put on hold. We scrambled to live in a 6-feet wide trailer.’: Mom recounts 2020 regrets, ‘Everything happens for a reason’
“I had just been laid off. Maybe I should have put up with the terrible job that I felt might have killed me, to take a temporary one that ended New Year’s Eve. Amidst all this I get an awful and mean message from someone with whom I thought I got along, and no reason behind it.”
‘My shortness of breath got worse. Then came the fever and cough. I was told at the ER, ‘You have lung damage.’ I finally broke down and cried.’: Mom struggling to recover from COVID-19 pleads ‘please don’t underestimate how horrible this illness is’
“Out of nowhere I got VERY sick this afternoon, so my husband sent my butt to the ER. When you’re sick you want your mama, your sister, your brother, your dad, your friends. You want your support system. I finally broke down and cried.”
‘You shouldn’t have been drinking chocolate milk while doing homework!’ she said in a really harsh tone. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth.’: Mom urges ‘give kids a chance to explain’
“I felt so anxious I couldn’t bring myself to speak up and say the truth. It was an honest accident, and a 7-year-old couldn’t have predicted it. I still get frustrated just thinking about it.”
‘I was staring at my massive basket of pre-kids clothes I refuse to throw out. ‘My body size can change.’: Woman struggling with body positivity says ‘I don’t exist to fit clothes, they exist to fit me’
“My husband saw me staring at them. My heart skipped a beat. I’m not a size 4 anymore.”
‘My 5-year-old turned to me, suddenly serious. ‘You shouldn’t eat too much, Mom. Or you get fat like Christy and Tammy.’ I felt tears tickling my eyes.’: Mom urges ‘all bodies are valid’
“We sat down to watch another episode of Scooby-Doo. My daughter laughed as Scooby and Shaggy devoured a pile of hamburgers. ‘They ate too much!’ she giggled. Then she got serious. I felt tears tickling my eyes. Christy and Tammy are two of my friends. This is the curse that has been placed on me, on so many of us.”
‘She told me her breasts were sore and her period was late. ‘But I can’t get pregnant. I think there’s something else going on.’: Woman urges ‘if your friend has a miscarriage, don’t pretend it didn’t happen’
“I encouraged her to take a home pregnancy test. She did, and texted me later that it was negative. Imagine her surprise a couple of weeks later when she was seven weeks pregnant! Then the bleeding started, and never really stopped. There was no headstone, no cards, no calls, no casseroles.”
‘I watched as my partner was coerced into thinking that just because it’s Mom or Dad, they can say whatever they want, whenever they feel like it.’: Woman says ‘never forget that people need space’ after watching parental emotional abuse
“What if the beautiful woman we call Mom is secretly our greatest enemy? It taught me a valuable lesson, which I wish I learned way sooner. Yes, the situation was rough.”
‘He warned us, ‘There is a good possibility of rain.’ He pushed us to move everything indoors. We pushed back. I may have been the bride, but I definitely didn’t look like one.’: Woman says ‘I got the better end of it’ after ruined wedding
“With a guest list of only 75 people, little did I know that this picture would be one of the only pictures where I would look like the bride I dreamed to be.”