“Out of the blue, a month later, I received an email from them: ‘We’d like to offer you a $150 stipend for your dedication.’ They thanked me for the time and effort I put into my application and interviews. I was floored.”
‘I didn’t want to say this over email, but we picked someone else for the job.’ After a year of rejections, I lost my sense of worth.’: Woman details company’s act of kindness after job rejection
‘As I snapped this photo I said, ‘Smile so Daddy can see what a big boy you’re being!’ My heart broke. It’s not supposed to be like this.’: Mom says ‘we may be missing our normal, but we are teaching empathy’
“This is the world I brought this miracle into. This should not be his first core memories. This should not be my 2-year-old’s life. He should be waving at strangers in the aisle, hugging other children in the toy section. And yet, this photo makes me extremely proud. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
‘You’re purposely starving your unborn child by not eating.’ My husband wasn’t allowed in the room for ultrasounds.’: Mom births baby with Down syndrome after hospital malpractice, ‘He is more loved because, not despite, his diagnosis’
“The pediatrician was super blunt. ‘No, you are mistaken. You’ve confused us with a different baby.’ Nobody noticed it on the million ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy. I watched my husband and 1-day-old baby taken away from me in an ambulance and all I could do was stare.”
‘I’ll have you pregnant in no time!’ I held my breath at the ultrasound. I’ll never forget the panic in their eyes.’: Mom births rainbow baby after losing son in utero, ‘Never stop fighting’
“The name of the contest was ‘Mojo Gives You a Baby.’ You won a free round of IVF. We decided to go for it. It was our miracle! We decided to try for a sibling.”
Passengers Kicked Off Flight After Toddler Refuses To Keep On Mask
“I begged him, bribed him, and pleaded with him, feeling my absolute lowest of lows as a mother.”
‘I took a test, saw a line. ‘What’s ONE more?’ he laughed. I already had 3 under 3.’: Couple surprised by pregnancy while adopting brothers, ‘It’s exactly what I dreamed’
“’Meet your son.’ Weeks later, we brought number 3 home. I noticed I was having mood swings. I joked to my girlfriends on a group text, ‘I‘m probably pregnant.’”
‘You watch him in pain and feel the energy. Sometimes you feel robbed. This shouldn’t fall on your shoulders.’: Woman with special needs brother says ‘he taught me to be selfless’
“Every birthday, when I blow out my candles, I use my one wish to wish my sibling could be able to walk and talk.”
‘I’m going to die young.’ I was drunk the day I took my SATs. I’d go days without eating.’: Single mom overcomes addiction, ‘I wanted to see my daughter grow up’
“While my friends were dreaming about their future careers, I was dreaming about booze. I’d carve words into my legs just to feel something. And then I got pregnant. The only thing I wanted for this child is to not feel how I felt.”
‘I asked my parents, ‘Why am I not like all the other kids?’ to which they replied, ‘That’s just how God made you.’: Young woman with Spinal Muscular Atrophy pursues career, ‘I found a way to make life happen!’
“I’d sit on the sidelines during PE while my peers played and had the time of their lives. I felt envy toward able-bodied children. I was that awkward girl in a wheelchair who didn’t know anybody. I didn’t fit in. One morning, I awoke to muscle loss in my hands. ‘But how will I create my art?!’ I had to find a way to make life happen.”
‘Breast is better,’ they said. I cried for days, unable to feed you. I heard I could never feel that connection with you because I didn’t nurse you.’: Mom shares emotional breastfeeding struggle
“I don’t know about letdown or leaking when a baby cries. I don’t know about raw or chapped nipples. I don’t have battle scars or badges of honor that are inscribed with, ‘Breastfed my baby until 2.’ None of it. But tell me, my sweet baby, did I love you any less?”