“I couldn’t lift my leg to get in the shower. I was 29 years old, feeling like a senior citizen. My family had to help me do everything. I was no longer myself.”
‘I was the youngest person in the waiting room with a walker.’: Chronic illness warrior says diagnosis proved ‘how strong I really am’
‘No boy? Their daddy is going to have a hard time when they are teens, watch out!’: Mom to four girls powerfully responds to gender remarks from strangers, urges ‘words matter’
“At first it didn’t bother me, the stares or the questions, but then it started to chip away at me. With each comment, my daughters would silently absorb a stranger making me feel less because we were a large family of girls. With each question, my daughters would internalize something they couldn’t yet grasp.”
‘We received the call. ‘You’re the chosen home for a girl and boy ages 1 and 2.’ DHS labeled their case ‘Shocking and Heinous.’: Mom candidly shares emotional sibling adoption journey
“They had been taken away from all they knew, too young to understand what was happening. Too young to ask why. They had no idea who we were and why they were in our home. It didn’t matter what color our skin was, how much money we had, or where we lived – it was about love. It was about fighting to give them a better future.”
‘Your mom has taken her own life.’ The room spun as I screamed. If I had answered her call, could I have stopped her?’: Woman loses mom to suicide, advocates for mental health
“She ran away for the first time just before I turned 9. She drove straight to the airport and headed across the country. ‘I promise I’ll make it home for your birthday.’ She wasn’t there.”
‘Your pregnancy is extremely high-risk.’ No baby had ever survived this.’: Disabled mom survives near-fatal pregnancy, shares mental health journey
“My body has more implants and bionic body parts/organs than human parts. I’m not the mother I envisioned myself being, but I get out of bed anyway. For my kids, for my husband, and for myself.”
‘I sat in my mom’s kitchen, bawling. She was the first person brave enough to say, ‘You need to talk to a doctor.’: Mom shares journey with postpartum depression
“I’d drive my car to the river and sit there, thinking about how long it would take to break through the ice. I just wanted to leave this world. I never shared this with anyone.”
‘I had a once in a lifetime, freak emergency. When I tell doctors what happened, they don’t believe me.’: Chronic illness warrior urges ‘hold on to joy’
“I had severe pain on my right side that wouldn’t go away. I was taken to the ICU, where the fight of my life began. I was hospitalized for over 40 days while they tried to save me.”
‘When I told him, his response was, ‘And I could get hit by a bus.’ None of us know what the future holds.’: Woman with rare disorder lives with intention
“I’ll never forget having my whole life ahead of me one day and the next, being told, ‘There’s no cure. Your life expectancy is 5-10 years.’ I was scared and alone.”
‘I meet her in a stark waiting room. Her eyes settle on her newborn in the car seat I’m carrying.’: Woman shares relationship with son’s birth mom
“The nurse smiles, ‘Congratulations.’ A sick feeling fills my stomach, and I think of his birth mom. I pray he’ll never have to wonder who she is.”
‘There’s no telling when it will be the last time he needs me.’: Mom urges ‘savor and soak in’ early stages of motherhood
“I don’t want to miss it.”