“’How’d you get her?’ I responded, ‘We adopted her.’ Her eyes bulged. ‘I’m just in shock. TWO WHITE MEN?’’
‘They let children go to TWO MEN? And she’s BLACK!’ She stood with a pen in one hand and paper in the other.’: Gay dads encounter judgement, ‘See the love, not the people”
‘I can’t foster. I’m a single mom!’ I dropped my daughter off at school and the phone rang. It was just the beginning.’: Mom becomes foster parent, ‘My singleness was a gift’
“Never in a million years did I think I’d be taking on foster care. ’Would you welcome in a 12-year-old girl?’ She was just 3 months older than my daughter.”
‘I asked Audonte what he wanted for his birthday. ‘Just some cupcakes.’ Every day, he’s at the park by himself.’: Mom shares act of kindness for wandering boy at park, ‘It takes a village’
“Audonte is at the park every single day and never has anyone with him. He’s become like a 4th son to me.”
‘They aren’t mine to keep.’ She can’t leave her husband. They’re just as scared as I am.’: Foster mom fights for reunification, ‘I want families to be whole again’
“‘I couldn’t give them back.’ It can happen to anyone. She can’t make it without you.”
‘Did I make you feel invisible, like you didn’t matter?’ I felt torn in two. Her needs surpassed yours, and I couldn’t change it.’: Autism mom pens touching letter to son, ‘You are my life raft’
“You went on to say it’s okay, and it’s not her fault, and it’s not my fault. It’s just what is. I cry as I type this.”
‘I heard him opening the safe. I asked what he was doing. I thought he fell. That’s when I saw the smoke and his lifeless body next to me.’: Woman loses husband to suicide, ‘Have courage and talk about the hard things’
“At 6 a.m., he got up to get a glass of water. I do not know what he actually drank, but when he came back into the bedroom, I heard him opening the safe. The next thing I knew, I heard a loud noise.”
‘They found a tumor in my eye.’ We were both 24 and just starting out our lives. So, I married him. Our wedding was the last time he saw me from both eyes.’: Young mom loses husband to Uveal Melanoma, ‘We survived by living in the moment’
“‘Ian is dying. There is cancer everywhere! Did no one tell you this?!’ We made it to Hawaii. In the back of my mind, I knew he wouldn’t be coming back. I had not only lost my husband, my soulmate, and the father of my two children, but I also lost our beautiful future together.”
‘You don’t measure up to other women.’ He detailed all my flaws. It cost me thousands.’: Divorcee details journey to self-worth, ‘Healing is beautiful’
“It struck me how just an afternoon of hearing about all of my flaws and how those flaws—my flaws—were used in the choice of another person.”
‘She’ll never have a boyfriend!’ My dad rushed out of the room. It looked like I’d been punched in the cheek.’: Woman with Port Wine Stain overcomes bullying, ‘Be kind to yourself’
“A classmate pointed at my birthmark and laughed, ‘Is that dried spaghetti sauce all over your face?’ My face was blotchy and far from perfect. I was mortified.”
‘I just ate a really big breakfast.’ It was a lie. I was starving, but I convinced myself I had it under control.’: Woman recovers from anorexia, ‘I love the person I am’
“I had a problem. But I had no idea how to ask for help. I sobbed when my mom placed dinner in front of me. ‘We’re going to the doctor.’ I was terrified, but I wasn’t so alone anymore.”