“The waiting was the hardest part. Watching your child deteriorate, lose their hair, weight, and energy while you sit back hopelessly forever changes you as a person. ‘They found a match.’ I knew she had a fighting chance to survive.”
‘As they rolled her away, she said, ‘Mama, hold my hand.’ I can’t go with her. I lost it.’: 3-year-old with kidney disease, stage IV liver cancer gets ‘second chance’ from organ donor
‘You’ll probably never see me again, but I wanted to say thank you for your service.’ He was about to move 3,000 miles away. My heart took over.’: Woman meets love of her life in Starbucks after act of kindness
“My jaw dropped as he walked in. ‘Wow, he is handsome!’ I brushed it off, knowing it wasn’t going to happen. People would ask, ‘When are you two getting together?!’ Days later, Chaz texted me: ‘Hey, let’s talk.’ I knew this was it. The ball was in his court. I was eager to know if there was an ‘us.’ I did everything I could to avoid sobbing right there, in the middle of Starbucks.”
‘We’re so lucky your dad still has his job.’ I don’t know how we’ll do it another day, another week, another year.’: Mom of special needs son says ‘being his caregiver is a whole life job’
“Most children don’t depend on their parents for everything their entire lives. We always worry about illness. He’s nonverbal, cannot walk, has a feeding tube, and recently has been diagnosed with a seizure disorder. But then, I look at Christopher and smile.”
‘How adorable,’ they say about our daughter. They stop us with compliments, but cross the street when Walter walks alone.’: Woman interracial couple says ‘we want our hearts to be seen’
“My husband goes out of his way to be nice and talk to EVERYONE. Not because he’s a people person, but because he’s learned a 6’5 Black man must overcompensate so people won’t be afraid of him.”
‘This isn’t the place for me. I just don’t fit in.’ He didn’t want to be adopted. We were broken.’: After foster heartbreak, couple adopt teenage boy, ‘He was given to us in our most desperate hour’
“’I just don’t fit here.’ He didn’t feel like he was good enough for us. We felt the weight during the entire process of trying to hold it all together. We questioned if we EVER wanted to be parents. I asked Joel, ‘Do you want to hear about another kid?’ He nodded. ‘Yes.’”
‘If someone, anyone, put their knee on one of my boys’ necks for 9 minutes, I’d burn it all down.’: White mom talks privilege, ‘You would do the same for your white babies’
“You know you would, too. But we, as white bodies in this country, have the privilege of having only to imagine it.”
‘He’s different from the others. You know what I mean.’ We woke to a noose hanging in our yard.’: Military wife talks difficulties of interracial relationship, ‘We all need to speak up’
“When we traveled together, the flight attendant asked us and ONLY us if we belonged together. They see a black man. They don’t know he spent half of his life serving this nation.”
‘I saw you pushing a stroller with a pink princess backpack hanging off your shoulder, your daughter giggling as you made silly sounds.’: Woman pens ode to black fathers, ‘Your love is as endless as your potential’
“I saw you verbally tap dance when the police pulled you over, carefully annunciating every syllable and narrating your movements. We locked eyes. Black father, you walk through a world where you’re stereotyped to death, but you still rise.”
‘Even though your vacations may not look or go as you planned make it happen.’: Mom of special needs kids says ‘let go of your vacation expectations’
“I pulled my daughter off a 10-story ledge. I made sure my son was breathing. It was exhausting. As I relaxed on the beach in the shade with my feet up reading a book, I realized I needed to tell you something… vacations won’t look like the vacations from your childhood.”
‘Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for making me ‘Daddy’ to the most amazing kids on earth.’: Widower shares emotional thank you letter to late wife on Father’s Day
“I hate so much that you’re not here right now, but I’m so lucky I get to be Daddy and Mommy for this season. Not a day goes by we don’t talk about you.”