“I know I wasn’t there the day you came into the world, I wasn’t there for your first steps or your first words, but I promise I will be there for many more of your firsts.”
‘I promise to love you as my own. I promise I will be the best wife for your dad.’: Tearful bride surprises stepson with sweet vows
The Moment I Knew My Foster Son Belonged With His Birth Father
“Although the trauma I assumed he came from may indeed be factual, I was called to admit that Dad, too, was just a product of systemic failures. One day, you might get to go back to your world, back to your people. Back to your Daddy, with whom you belong.”
‘I have cancer.’ But how?! I’m 27 years old. I just had a baby! She couldn’t grow up without me. I wouldn’t allow it.’: New mom battles rare, aggressive form of breast cancer
“I knew I was dying. I was a shell of the woman who had had a baby 7 months prior. The tumor had grown to take over half of my breast and the pain was unbearable.”
‘How do you tell parents their child may have a genetic defect with a flyer for the Special Olympics? We were angry and devastated.’: Mom shares Down Syndrome acceptance journey
“He made a fist and cocked it back. I could feel his fury. I remember reaching over, just an hour after surgery, and snatching his hand as he started to strike. It hurt like heck in my abdomen, but I couldn’t let him do what I wanted to do myself… hit that physician.”
‘My child shouted, ‘Mama, don’t forget wine’ in the aisles of the grocery store. I thought it was funny.’: Widow and mom shares journey with alcoholism
“I didn’t her every memory to be of me tipsy with a drink in my hand. Feeling grief without alcohol was the hardest thing I’ve had to do, but I had to walk through it and I’m proud of that.”
‘You were a dream, a miracle, a moment I thought might never happen to me again.’: Mom shares touching open-letter to last born, only son
“You refilled my heart with a certain kind of magic. You may have been last to find your way to my heart and arms, but my goodness, how much you were worth waiting for.”
‘When your big kid asks you to do something, say yes.’: Mom of teens shares important advice
“To be invited into their world is a privilege.”
‘I was in heaven holding my baby, but my brain was spiraling. ‘We need to get you help.’ I thought I was crazy.’: New mom overcomes postpartum depression, ‘I can be the mom I’ve always wanted to be’
“I remembered all the times I heard, ‘When it’s all too much and you’re feeling like you could hurt yourself or your baby, put them in a safe place and walk away.’ I remember thinking it will never happen to me, then crying when I realized it was happening in that very moment. I had hit my breaking point.”
‘College essays. Refereeing kitchen cleanup so much you should wear stripes and a whistle. The adult wounds you can’t fix with bandaids and blankies.’: Tired mom of teens says ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way’
“I thought once my kids were older I’d have all sorts of time. And yet somehow I sit here, exhausted to my core. Still no time, still tired. Still wouldn’t have it any other way.”
‘We should be married,’ he said to my mom. She explained to him they had been married for 50 years.’: Caregiver to dad with Alzheimer’s shares journey, ‘I won’t regret the time I spend with him’
“I felt like I had been hit with a bag of bricks. I was sad, angry, and felt very defeated. When you care for someone with Alzheimer’s, it’s a constant grieving process. You grieve at the diagnosis, you grieve at every ‘milestone.’ I was dealing with grief even though my dad is still alive.”