“‘Did we do the right thing?,’ I asked my husband, tears streaming down my face. People thought we were crazy. But he was saving us.”
‘We had a long-distance marriage, and adopted a teenager. Yes, you heard that right. We adopted a 14-year-old teenage boy when I was 27 and my husband was 31.’
‘We are critical of women who wear too much makeup. We are critical of women who are bossy.’: Mom insists it’s time to stop ‘constant criticism’ and ‘encourage instead’
“Anyone else exhausted, feeling like no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get it right? Like everyone is watching, waiting to tear them down? It’s time we stop forming cliques that leave people out, and start forming communities.”
‘This woman looks like crap! Want to intervene?,’ I shouted. Silence. I fell to the ground and cried.’: 25-year-old single mom feels like ‘crap’ after divorce, uses son as motivation to ‘stop pretending’
“How did my life land here? I was 24 years old and divorced. I was a college student and a mother, and suddenly, I was alone. ‘But isn’t it better than before you were divorced?’ is not a consolation. We’re afraid to admit the truth. Some days it’s unbearable. But I’m going to stop pretending.”
‘My mom came out of surgery. ‘Everything looks beautiful,’ the nurse said. Just 10 minutes later, my sister called screaming. My little mom was gone.’ Mom passes after heart surgery, brings family closer than ‘ever before’
“I remember my mom stepping into the house. She looked different, weak. She blamed it on eating bad bacon…yes, bacon. I talked to her about the possibility of having had a heart attack. She looked at me stubbornly and said, ‘So?’ We convinced her to go to the hospital. She went only for her ‘little angels,’ her great grandkids. We found ourselves in tidal wave after tidal wave of problems.”
‘We were 11,000 feet above sea level. I wanted to throw up. I instantly regretted this. But we’ve got to get that picture!’: Mom shares terrifying moment she ‘hated’ to encourage others to show their ‘true life’ moments too
“Our GPS was basically like, ‘You guys don’t want to go that way, PLEASE go this other way!,’ but we didn’t listen. Of course we wanted to go this way! I couldn’t get my balance. I was shaking with anxiety. But smile, everyone! Say cheese!”
‘Mom, why did we only get him for 3 years and not for a real, whole life?’: Mom urges parents to know ‘drowning happens, to real people, in seconds’ after son ‘slips away’ to pool 2 floors below
“I asked him for the hundredth time: ‘Do you ever go near the water without me?’ He shook his head adamantly and said: ‘No way, Mama. Then I wouldn’t see you again, and we would be so sad.’ I never imagined these words would come true.”
‘I was called ‘gay’ before I even knew what it meant. I have to be a strong papa to my girls. I can’t let them see I’m hurting.’ Gay father from deep south says he’s just like ‘any other family’, finds confidence after years of bullying
“My cousin called my mom screaming when she found out. ‘How can you be happy for him?!’ In public, we get looked at A LOT. It doesn’t matter if we’re at Olive Garden or Home Depot. It’s hard to turn a blind eye to the glares. As much as I wish I wasn’t bothered by my past, it comes bubbling back up. There’s something that happens to one’s confidence when they grow up in an environment like mine.”
She grabbed my finger and squeezed tight. My husband looked up to the monitor. ‘She has no heartbeat, baby!’: Mom pregnant with twins delivers 1-pound baby premature, brother born 11 days later
“I looked up at her doctor and said, ‘She’s gone, isn’t she?’ With tears in his eyes, he shook his head yes.”
‘I don’t see arms.’ The sonographer takes too long rubbing the wand over my belly. Everything goes silent.’: After ‘repeat miscarriages,’ mom births ‘miracle, rainbow baby’ with TAR Syndrome
“We told our family about Nicholas’ lack of arms. ‘Do you think you should keep him?’ That question BROKE my heart. Having to confront the fact others disagreed with me was as painful as my miscarriages. Was I sentencing him to a painful life? People who didn’t know would talk of all the things he’d accomplish. It all felt like lies.”
‘What? No hands?’ The Universe chose me to be Ivy’s mom.’: Mother learns of daughter’s limb difference, refuses terminating pregnancy because ‘she was ours to love, protect’
“Missing both forearms and hands. This felt like a punch to the gut. It stole my breath. My husband firmly, passionately said to me, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do to take care of her. I’ll build her anything. I want her. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life.’ He was right. She saw me and said, ‘Yes. I want her. I want HER to be my mommy.’”