“I remember laying in my bed, crying, and asking God why He would make me if He was going to send me to Hell.”
‘This time last year, I wrote a suicide note. I hated myself and believed I was better off dead than being ‘gay.’’
‘I had a panic attack before I posted it. My body has fat, it has rolls, it’s got stretch marks from before my pregnancy. But that doesn’t make it any less postpartum.’
“The first few weeks of motherhood felt very lonely. I felt so uncomfortable in my body and was searching for someone, anyone, to relate to. I saw other moms celebrating their postpartum bodies, but I could never find another plus size mother who was celebrated in the same way.”
‘He didn’t have any money, just school loans. He was younger than I was. Almost 4 years to be exact. My engagement ring was small. My proposal was simple.’
“That’s how I knew he was the one: I didn’t care.”
Dear Society: Please Stop Judging How Women Use Social Media
“If she uses a Snapchat filter every time she takes a picture because it makes her feel pretty, let her do it. If she takes gym selfies to track her progress every day, let her do it. If she poses the same way in every picture because she likes that angle of her body the best, let her do it.”
‘He woke with a small cough. Within hours, he had trouble breathing. A few hours after that, he took his last breath.’: Woman’s husband who ‘never got sick’ passes suddenly from Bone Marrow Failure months before birth of son
“My husband, Jonas, began to look pale. We both chalked it up to jet lag and went on with the week. We had two small children and I was 14 weeks pregnant with our third, so being tired wasn’t out of the norm. Later that week, even picking up the kids’ toys would make him dizzy. Another week went by, all the while he continued to ride his bicycle over 20 miles a day. He came home that night after riding and had almost passed out while riding. ‘Enough is enough.’ I figured it couldn’t hurt to go to the doctor.”
‘I had a meltdown in a Target fitting room. A thought entered my mind: I hate my body.’
“I stood and stared at myself half-naked. I missed pre-pregnancy me. I missed how my jeans used to fit. How I didn’t have to wear Spanx when I wore something fitted. I missed the way my boobs looked in a bra that actually fit me. I missed it all.”
My dad had written ‘Best After April 2016’: After 3 miscarriages, woman credits beer, baseball and fate for working in ‘mysterious ways’
“During my dad’s visit, he reminded me of a story that helped me to accept everything happens for a reason. I️ don’t think it was a coincidence I received the email on my daughter’s second birthday, September 6th. But I’ll let you decide.”
‘I was a young father, 21, trying to figure it out as a single dad. There weren’t baby changing tables in men’s restrooms. Changing diapers SUCKED in public.’
“Fast forward to July 2018. My daughter is now 16. I saw a story about a dad who was changing his daughter on a dirty tile floor in a public restroom. I was taken right back to 2002. I thought YES! That was the worst! I have done that many times!”
The dementia is taking her away. He leans in to kiss her. Ever so quietly I hear her say, ‘I love you,’ before staring into a place only she can see.
“‘Is she OK? Who is watching her?’ Who could possibly love her like he does, to know what being apart is doing to his heart? He doesn’t understand why no one will listen. Why no one realizes how much she needs him, and more importantly, how much he needs her.”
‘When I became a father I felt like a fumbling mortal, a diaper-changing imposter. I grew up to learn my dad had faults, too. Like many men of his generation, he didn’t know how to handle his emotions.’
“I saw my dad on the same level as Batman or Superman. He was so strong. It seemed like he could do anything. He could pick up both of my sisters and me at one time, tickle us, and throw us around like a rag dolls. He gave the best hugs.”