“I disappear a lot. I will be calling my friends, texting my family and the next week… *poof* I’m gone. Last week, friend checked in on me. I was okay, and I kind of wasn’t. ‘Hey you are doing that thing where you don’t take my calls?'”
‘She sent a text: ‘Hey, are you doing that thing where you don’t take my calls?’ I was okay, and I kind of wasn’t.’: Woman struggling with mental health says ‘it’s OK to disappear’
‘I jumpstarted her car. ‘That’s what I’m talking ‘bout! Y’all don’t need no man!’ Then, my heart broke.’: Woman says ‘there is nothing wrong with needing and wanting your husband’
“I need him to bear the weight of family when my knees are buckling under depression. I need him to lift me up when fear causes me to back down. I need him to be the voice of reason when the chaos is deafening. Not only do I need him, but I want him.”
‘I started bleeding at 6 weeks pregnant. We braced ourselves for familiar bad news. ‘There are TWO heartbeats!’ I immediately burst into tears.’: Mom pregnant with ‘miracle twins’ after 8 pregnancy losses
“We lost 8 babies in a row. Just then, we received an unexpected call from a family member. ‘I’d love to be your surrogate!’ We turned her down. The odds were stacked against us, but we both felt a stirring in our hearts to try again. ‘Well, it’s positive! In fact, it’s VERY positive!’ I immediately burst into tears.”
‘She’ll never be able to do it.’ Doctors didn’t expect much. The win wasn’t just for me. It was for an entire community.’: Woman with Down syndrome becomes ‘Woman of Worth’
“Parents often look at me and say, ‘You’re a role model.’ I know their children will grow up not to be like me, but to be exactly who they are, living their own beautiful purpose.”
‘The letter said, ‘I’m your daughter. Can you meet me?’ She’s the secret that ate away at me for 18 years.’: Birth mom reunites with daughter, shares healing journey
“This amazing human I had given birth to was a complete stranger.”
‘I received a call from my husband’s co-worker. ‘Brittany, hurry, run. Allen is hurt really bad.’ My heart wasn’t prepared for what I was about to witness.’: Widow finds ‘love after loss’
“Allen lay on the dusty barn floor face up. He was foaming out the mouth. ‘Brittany, be careful there is a gun.’ All I could do was cry out loud, ‘No! I am pregnant, he can’t be gone!’ I moved back in with my parents. My world was literally turned upside down.”
‘I had clothes laid out for her. I left my job to be a stay-at-home papa. This hurts, BAD.’: Dads share disrupted adoption story, ‘I couldn’t imagine life any other way’
“We anxiously awaited the phone call. One day led to two days, then three. It was like someone punched me in my stomach 10 times. Our birth mother had disappeared.”
‘Twins?! NO. WAY. Are you sure you’re seeing things correctly on the screen?!’ I was nearly 24 weeks along.’: Mom births twins at home, ‘Nothing went according to plan, and that’s okay’
“I went to poop really quick. To my surprise, I sat down on the toilet and felt a head descending. ‘The baby is coming!!!’ I stood up while my baby’s head was being born into my hands.”
‘Did he think we abandoned him?’ I was still grieving. He hardly slept day or night. I struggled to feel connection.’: Couple foster to adopt, ‘If you don’t get attached, you’re doing it wrong’
“Within minutes, I was holding him in my arms. It was as if my arms had always been missing something. Him. Grief hit hard when he was reunified with mom.”
‘She’s the kind of girl I would marry.’ We were strangers in Vegas. He turned out to be my best gamble ever.’: Military spouse urges ‘let yourself fall in love’ after long-distance relationship
“After parting ways, I sobbed as I walked back to my room. The morning after we met, I awoke to a voicemail. ‘I changed my flight. I want to see you again.’ Our love carried us while thousands of miles, bodies of water, and continents apart. When you know, you know.”