On the left, woman battling breast cancer takes a photo with her family, on the right, same woman shows off her scars from her double mastectomy

‘Your cancer is aggressive.’ I replied, ‘Great, so am I.’ I was the youngest one in the oncology suite by 30 years.’: Breast cancer survivor celebrates three years cancer free, ‘I chose not to let fear define me’

“I was flooded with support, but also stories of ‘my aunt had it and she died’ or ‘my sister’s friend had it twice and she’s great now.’ I didn’t want the pink-washed version of cancer. I didn’t need you to tell me to write my kids goodbye letters. My story was different.”

daughters

‘You were the size of a poppy seed when I fell in love with you, barely a blip on the ultrasound screen. In an instant, I knew life would never be the same.’: Mom shares sweet ode to daughters

“I never believed in the notion of love at first sight, but when they first laid you on my chest and I looked at you through the tears, I knew it to be true. Unconditional, infinite love. When you are old and gray, and I am older and grayer, when the world has long stopped seeing you as a baby, I will look at you and still see the one I rocked in my arms. And I will love you.”

Couple on the left walk hand in hand down a nature path, on the right the same couple hold their newborn adopted son

‘We have a birth mom in labor. Might you be interested?’ It hadn’t been 2 days since the crippling news. ‘Could this be it?’: After two failed adoptions, couple adopt baby boy

“I logged onto Facebook to find a message from a woman I didn’t know, claiming the expectant mom had told her she’d be placing her baby with them. Within weeks, I received a dozen more emails from different families claiming the same thing. Our dream suddenly became a nightmare.”

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