“The stairs became my ‘Mount Everest.’ I lost consciousness 18 times. I woke up in the ER with an IV in my hand. The doctors found nothing wrong with me. We were grasping at straws.”
‘Everything went black. ‘Did I pass out?’ I woke up with no memory. They had no idea what was happening to me.’: Woman describes struggles with Lyme Disease, ‘Every day is a gift’
‘Come OOOONNN!’ I used to wonder why my mom was always the last one out of the house. Then I became a mom.’: Mom says ‘we take care of absolutely everyone and everything before ourselves’
“For the longest time, I didn’t get it. She had started at the same time we did! Then I became a mom.”
‘I only had sex once!’ I became a missing teen mom. Posters of me were up all over town.’: Woman escapes abusive relationship, graduates college as first-generation LGBT student
“‘Don’t even THINK about being with a woman!’ I kept my only ‘girl on girl’ relationship hush-hush. And then I met him. He convinced me to run away from home.”
‘He didn’t try to replace her dad. He came along, just when we thought we’d never feel joy again, and filled the unspeakable void in our hearts.’: Widow pens appreciation letter to bonus dad
“She didn’t have a dad anymore. A guy to love her no matter what, intimidate boys, or agree with her when mom was acting crazy. And then, just when I thought she was never going to feel joy again, along he came.”
‘I can only do so much.’ It’s just the two of us. One day, I won’t be here. Who will tell her I’m gone? Who will make sure she’s safe?’: Autism mom shares daughter’s journey, ‘I’ll let her lead the way’
“We were in survival mode. She kicked me in the face and dragged me across the kitchen floor. I got her in the car and drove straight to the hospital. I dropped to my knees, begging for someone to help my daughter.”
‘You can’t withstand this storm.’ I AM THE STORM. I’m determined, I pushed myself harder than I ever have in my life.’: Woman recovering from COVID-19 and complications details hospital experience, ‘I will always keep fighting’
“March 23rd. I start coughing up blood and it’s hard to breathe. My Apple Watch is saying my resting heart rate is 157. It’s never happened before, so obviously it’s concerning.”
‘You need to get away. You need a BREAK.’ So what did I do? YUP, I called my sister. Who else would do this for me?’: Woman writes story praising ‘superstar’ late sister, ‘She was my rock’
“She called from the hospital to let me know she would try to be well enough to make that trip down here. She had COVID. She helped in every way possible for me to navigate widowhood. She was on the ventilator eight days. The one I leaned on my whole life.”
‘Oh! Is this your sister?’ We have learned to answer, ‘We are friends’ because it’s true!’: Mom navigates co-parenting with bonus parents during holidays, ‘We work together for a common goal’
“Once Avery was born, I stayed with Zach and his girlfriend (now wife) Bailee. I still remember going to an appointment and Zach having to work, so Bailee came to the appointment with me. As we checked in the nurse said, ‘Oh! Is this your sister?'”
‘If you’re not excited, you’ll be a bad mom.’ Who decided this? What does THEIR life look like behind closed doors?’: Pregnant woman grieves ‘death’ of old self, urges ‘it’s okay to not be excited’
“I will never be the woman I was before the morning of July 4th, when we tried translating a Spanish pregnancy test in the morning light along the Mexican coast.”
‘You’re a survivor, not a victim.’ BOTH CAN BE TRUE. The mixed messages surrounding this are dizzying.’: Woman advocates for mental health awareness, ‘It took YEARS to rebuild my trust’
“Before Casey left the state with me, before he promised me forever and before we said ‘I do,’ I explained the mental weight I carried. Somehow I knew it would be an added challenge. I wasn’t wrong.”