“One week of air hugs through Facetime. One more week ahead of wondering if this will be the week we’ll run out of PPE completely. One more week ahead of uncertainty, of masking up and walking into the unknown. We will come out on the other side.”
‘One more week of trying to put a smile on through tears. One more week of hearing you say, ‘Mommy, I can’t wait to kiss you again. How much longer will this be?’: Nurse mom says ‘cherish this time for those of us who can’t right now’
‘Make sure your kids have a schedule. But let them be kids. Homeschool. You don’t need to homeschool. Teach them life lessons instead. And common core.’: Woman candidly shares reality of mixed messages during pandemic
“Don’t let your kids outside. Don’t leave them home if you go out. Give them fresh air. Keep them home. Is that a cough? Is the tightness in your chest anxiety or the virus? Just breathe. But don’t be irresponsible. That’s not sickness that’s your fear. It’s okay, we’re all stressed. Treat yourself to some junk food. Not too much. You need to keep your immune system up.”
‘They tell me, ‘Go back to your country.’ Many of my patients ask to switch nurses. I’m not Chinese, and I was born and raised in America.’: Nurse vows to continue to fight ‘despite obstacles’
“I head into the shower and visciously scrub my skin until my eczema flares up to match the raw, peeling skin behind my ears from wearing masks all day. I sleep alone, without my special someone. I park my car in crevices to power nap on a makeshift foam mattress in the back of my trunk after a 12-hour shift to head right into another 8-hour shift. I will continue to fight, no matter the obstacles.”
‘I have to send my 3-and-a-half-year-old child away. I won’t get to visit her. I won’t get to hug her. I won’t get to tuck her in at night.’: Nurse mom says ‘I feel punished for having to be the ‘good guy‘
“This is the face of someone who feels punished for trying to be the ‘good guy.’ My job as an ER nurse is just that, my job. This is my current situation.”
‘I lost a baby, too,’ Why is she saying that? I’m not losing my baby, am I? Surely they can save her!’: Woman experiences her baby being born still, ‘I have learned grief is not linear’
“The emotional pain was like something I have never experienced. I remember the midwife placing my daughter on me, I hadn’t opened my eyes and was terrified. She quickly took her off and I remember just crying. All I wanted to do was swap places with my baby. I didn’t understand how this could have happened.”
‘We fully believed I was pregnant. I didn’t understand why this was happening. My whole world felt like it was crashing down’: Woman struggles with infertility, ‘Our journey is messy and painful, but also beautiful’
“We haven’t been publicly ‘open’ about who has the ‘problem.’ We don’t feel the need to share it everywhere because it doesn’t matter and quite frankly, it’s no one’s business. At this point, it changed to the reality we may not ever have kids, period.”
‘I know you think he’s going to stop. One day, sweet girl, there won’t be a next time. One day, it will be absolutely too late.’: Abuse survivor urges others to get out, ‘You’re a warrior. I know you can save yourself’
“One day he’ll have you pinned on the floor with all of his weight, smashing your face into the carpet. I know you don’t want to believe it happened at all. I know you wish, with all your heart, things were different. I know you feel worthless. But I also know you can do it. Stop trying to figure it out, stop trying to make a plan and just run.”
‘She took her life. The mantra became, ‘Be Kind.’ She couldn’t have predicted how it would resonate.:’ Mom in UK describes helpers amidst the Coronavirus, ‘let’s kill the terror with kindness’
“I have never met them. I do not know their faces, surnames, ages, job titles or nationalities, but I know their numbers, and if I ever need ‘any help with groceries over the coming weeks,’ they are close. I’ve read that note, several times over, tears welling in my eyes as I remember I am not alone.”
‘My daughter was separated from her only true friend. Her teacher. A person who said, ‘Come to me as you are.’: Mom of autistic child thanks teachers for act of kindness ‘you are our heroes’
“Yesterday the teachers and administrators from my daughter’s school decided to put on a car parade. As her teacher drove away, she shouted out the window, ‘I love you, Campbell!’ They all knew her. Not just her homeroom or specials teachers, but every single one. As a special needs parent, I can’t explain how much that kind of acceptance means.”
‘He can never leave the house.’ We have not seen our family or friends in over a year.’: Mom of severely immunocompromised son says ‘I am tired of headlines saying only the vulnerable will die’
“His doctors were hopeful we could take him out of the house for the first time EVER this summer. We could introduce him to his family members and friends. We could let him play on a playground, like a normal toddler. However, now our future is unknown again as the pandemic has erupted.”