“My sweet boy wasn’t talking, and he was growing increasingly frustrated. His sensory sensitivities were unpredictable. I do know I avoided saying ‘yes.’ But I couldn’t say ‘no.’”
‘I said, ‘Ask me anything!’ My 7-year-old niece was quiet and hesitant. ‘Is he going to be like this forever?’: Mom of autistic child offers support,’ Know there are so many of us with you’
‘I knew the test was positive before they even called. I’m FaceTiming him from the other side of the house, just to tell him I love him.’: Woman asks for prayers after healthcare worker husband’s COVID-19 diagnosis
“My husband is suffering. He’s about as sick as I’ve ever seen him. He doesn’t ask those people if they think Covid is fake, or who they voted for. He doesn’t ask whether or not they can pay their bill. He doesn’t care. He just wants to make them well. And in caring for others, Ian contracted COVID-19.”
‘Finally,’ I thought, ‘I’m going to get SO MUCH DONE!’ I burnt out, and I burnt out HARD. My husband sat me down. ‘What’s going on with you?’: Woman urges ‘take each day as it comes’
“I started snapping at my family and avoiding the few social Zoom meetings I was invited to. I was gripped every day by a threatening cloud of anxiety of ‘not getting enough done’ and ‘not taking advantage of this time off.’ My husband sat me down on the couch. ‘What’s going on with you?’ I dove right in.”
‘I was the foster kid no one wanted. The feeling of those thin garbage bags felt so heavy in my small hands. I’d close my eyes and dream of a real bedroom all my own.’: Girl lives her ‘fairy tale’ after adopted from foster care
“Suddenly my biological father, who was unfit to care for a child, received custody of me. I got on a plane to go across what felt like the world to live with someone I could barely remember. But my saviors didn’t give up.”
‘I was in Target buying essential items. She drops the bomb. ‘Will you take a newborn baby tomorrow?’: Foster care mom says ‘it’s never simple’
“I told my social worker that we can’t do it this time. We said goodbye to a baby in late November. But that night I cried. I cried for a baby that I’ve never met.”
‘My teeth were turning yellow. ‘Mommy, why are you so tired all the time? You don’t get out of bed.’: Mom battling depression says ‘I am living proof it gets better’
“When my mom walked in and saw me with the pills I had found, scattered across the bed, I knew I had hit rock bottom. I couldn’t even look her in the eyes. I remember sitting in the hospital, my whole family waiting outside. ‘I feel like nothing ever gets better.’ I am living proof it gets better.”
‘I realized it was Mother’s Day only two days before. It felt extra special to dress up in honor of their mother.’: Dad of 7 who forgot Mother’s Day says ‘you worth celebrating every day of the year’
“I got stuck in the Coronavirus time-warp, realizing it was Mother’s Day only two days before. This year, the kids really wanted to do a fancy night. It felt extra special to dress up in honor of their mother. You are worth celebrating today.”
‘She almost died, then I was diagnosed. I made the commitment to change immediately. I needed to be there for her long-term.’: During quarantine man says ‘I am blessed I had a wake-up call to focus on my health’
“It took my wife Shelly’s freak accident for that to change. I need to be here for the long-term. I am blessed I had a wake-up call to focus on my health.”
‘I don’t want a fake smile or a forced, ‘I’m doing okay. How about you?’ You can leave that ish at the door.’: Woman claims ‘real sisterhood is created in the trenches’
“I want you to tell me that some days are easier than others. I want you to tell me that some days are happier than others. I want you to tell me that, some days? Some days you just don’t know how you’ll ever push through. Sisterhood is created in the trenches.”
‘The executive told me, ‘I’m not here to help another white girl save Africa.’ This was NOT the life I had anticipated.’: Woman creates global movement for non-profit hospitals, ‘This is the life I was meant to lead’
“I saw dozens of smiling infants, cooing and adoring the hospital caregivers they know as ‘mamas.’ I witnessed an orphan, who we found in a diabetic coma, now thriving. The 6-year-old, who was severely emaciated, weighing only 9 pounds, now fully recovered and walking.”