“I didn’t see anyone like me until I was in my teens. At times, I felt like it was only me in the world with a little hand, which felt lonely and scary. I used to wish on every star, ‘Please could I just have two normal hands?’”
‘Have you been biting your fingernails?’ he asked. I got this sinking feeling.’: Woman with limb difference goes on self-love journey, ‘Being different is amazing’
‘A car ran a red light and hit me. ‘Stop being dramatic and take a cab.’ I was DEVASTATED. I didn’t want to struggle or hurt anymore.’: Woman shares journey to sobriety, ‘I chose life’
“Alcohol was like a looming cloud. I chose alcohol over everything. I would mourn with alcohol, celebrate with alcohol, and survive with alcohol. I asked myself, ‘Do I want to spend my life mourning ghosts of a life lost, or actually live?’”
‘Are you sure about having this baby?’ He was as blue as a Smurf. I walked down the corridor, empty, without my baby.’: Mom shares son’s journey with congenital heart defect, ‘It made me who I am’
“I didn’t know what or how to feel. ‘I’m numb.’ The word ‘death’ was written under risk factors. Signing the consent form was the scariest thing I’d ever done. It was basically signing away your child to your worst fear.”
‘She patted my tummy. ‘Thanksgiving wasn’t good for you… too much turkey.’ I was confused. What was wrong with my body?’: Dancer becomes body positive advocate, ‘I want to be the change’
“I’d eat lunch and sneak off to be sick. I was ashamed even with all the dance and exercise, it didn’t help. I was fat. ‘Your body is wrong for dance.’ I didn’t fight back.”
‘Please tell me what’s going on!’ It was a freak accident. ‘AM I DREAMING?’ Christmas was supposed to be ‘THE DAY!’: Woman pregnant with rainbow baby, ‘She chose US to be her parents’
“I was rushed to the hospital because it looked bloody BAD. ‘I just have this weird feeling,’ I told him. I was shaking from absolute shock.”
‘It’s all in your head.’ I was urinating 30 times a day. It was hard to bear. I was left with a tube hanging between my legs.’: Woman diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis, ‘It’s given me confidence’
“I felt as if I had a UTI, but the dipsticks came back fine. I spent so much time in the toilet it became a work joke. I’d wake up five times a night for the toilet and at times, would hardly empty my bladder at all. I just felt clueless.”
‘I broke out with an allergic reaction in HANDCUFFS. I spent all night lying in jail, completely defeated.’: Mom of 8 battles alcoholism, ‘I try to have unconditional love for myself’’
“I played the martyr, feeling sorry for myself raising these babies alone, instead of admitting I needed help. I was a total failure of a mom.”
‘You’re just an attention-seeker!’ Kids pushed me. ‘I can’t carry on.’ I felt hopeless.’: Woman with Borderline Personality Disorder finds self-love, ‘I’m capable of amazing things’
“‘It’s just a teenage phase, she’ll grow out of it,’ doctors said. I didn’t see a future for myself. I was just a label.”
‘90% of your kidneys are scarred.’ I was terrified and in denial. Somehow, my body had betrayed me.’: Man details journey with Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Failure, ‘I am a fighter’
“All I could think of was how miserable my uncle was on dialysis. He plugged himself in every night for 8 hours while a machine cleaned his blood. ‘I won’t do dialysis and just let myself die.’ 15 years later, here I am.”
‘We want YOU as our parents!’ It was the last time we heard from them for 14 months. We fell in love with all 5.’: Family adopts internationally, ‘Our forever is almost in sight’
“My husband said, ‘They want you.’ When I rounded the corner, they all started yelling, ‘Mama!!! Mama, come here!’ They made a conscious CHOICE to call me ‘mama.’ I will always cherish this.”