‘They blurted out, ‘Omg, look at IT!’ Children ran up with cell phones, loudly yelling and recording me. I left the store traumatized.’: Woman with dwarfism shares unique journey

“When I wake up every morning, I don’t look in the mirror and see dwarfism. But I know once I step outside the door, somebody will remind me. A common question is, ‘What do you want to be called? Dwarf, little person, LP, midget?’ I would like to be called Amy, because that’s my name. At the end of the day, I want people to remember who I am, not what I look like.”

‘Did I ever think you were mean and not like you?’ I knew she was leading up to something.’: Stepmom blames movies for giving stepmoms ‘a bad rap,’ ‘Come on, Hollywood, help some sisters out!’

“My stepdaughter has only known her parents being apart. They split when she was 1. I assumed she didn’t have any issues about living in two homes. She brought up ‘Cinderella’ and how the stepmom was mean. Her response made me tear up. ‘I think we are really special. It’s different with us.’ I know it’s not easy for all blended families. The crucial piece is to have a cordial relationship with her mother.”

‘I cried in the truck. I cried getting out of the truck. And I cried down aisle 5 at the local grocery store.’: Woman’s realization about grief wishing Nana could be there for her children

“We celebrated birthdays for two of my sons. Wanting my mom here to celebrate and spoil her grandsons was overwhelming. I even made a last minute run to the grocery store, just to let the tears pour. Then I realized she was there at the party for her grandsons.”

‘I knocked on the door. ‘I remember everything you did to me.’ We drove from California to Texas, just so I could look him in the eye and say it.’: Sexual assault survivor fosters 26 children, ‘I want to bring them hope’

“I remember my grandfather always calling my name, looking for me. While most kids were dreaming of graduating high school, I was piecing together horrific memories. I remembered the smell of the burnt orange carpet when I’d hide under the bed. I remembered the knick-knacks on the dresser I focused on to escape what was happening. Many people ask me, ‘Why in the world do you continue to do foster care when your own biological kids have left the nest?’ The answer is simple: I’m meant to love people through their pain.”

‘Is she breathing right now?’ She was limp, almost lifeless. I watched in fear as they loaded my tiny 1-month old baby girl into the ambulance.’: Baby is born with rare chromosomal deletion, ‘We basically won the lottery with her.’

“Hattie had been born with a significant deletion of her first chromosome. We had no idea what this all meant. Hattie was one in a billion. We received a plethora of mail. ‘Dear parent or guardian of a child with special needs.’ Special needs? Hattie doesn’t have special needs, does she? As far as we knew, Hattie seemed completely normal to us! We have learned to avoid the CAN’Ts and focus on all the CANs.”

‘So she’ll always be sick?’ I leave the office with an answer but no cure. ‘I’m not dying. I’m just 16 and past my prime.’: Chronic illness warrior battles lupus and fibromyalgia

“’Maybe if I drank bleach,’ I think. I feel so dirty, tired and stiff. ‘Maybe if I turned inside-out and scrubbed my veins out with soap.’ Surely the disease would be eradicated. I’m supposed to find out today. I tap my foot. ‘Remember to breathe, you have to breathe, just breathe.’ Dr. Box settles into his rolling chair. ‘So she’ll always be sick?’ ‘Yes, but we caught it early.’ Yesterday, I dropped my hairbrush. I couldn’t finish. My hair is still knotted in the back. Last week, I passed out briefly, stepping out of the shower. And this was an improvement.”

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