“I was looking at the picture and thinking about how it’s so comforting when all of us can be represented in a photo. Anyone who knows our story would understand who that bear symbolizes.”
‘We piled on the bed. Mike had his arm wrapped around our Dorothy bear. She’s always in our bedroom, but doesn’t always make it onto the bed with us. Tonight she did.’: Mother’s emotional tribute to stillborn daughter
‘I was studying, thinking I was too busy to chat. ‘Your brother is dead. Pick up the phone!’ That was the text my sister sent me.’: Brother loses twin to tragic heroin addiction
“I could see the light slowly start to leave him. Bullies picked on him relentlessly, girls cheated on him. He was crying almost every time I saw him. ‘Nathan, everyone hates me.’ I didn’t know how to help him. I felt a cold, deep fear, like the last bits of innocence leaving forever.”
‘Tex? Somebody’s looking for Tex.’ Nobody ever called him that. Except for ONE person.’: Military dad surprised with war buddy after 58 years
“Ken had called everyone he could find in the Texas phone books with his surname. My dad immediately raced to the door. His voice trembled. ‘I never thought I’d see you again!’ They hadn’t seen each other in decades. We kept it a secret for two weeks.”
‘Well, he LOOKS normal.’ By lunchtime our kiddo has scratched, punched doors, hurt his sibling, thrown toys and spit on us.’ Mom explains tiring struggle raising her ‘extreme child’
“We have been up all night comforting our child’s night terrors and when they finally wake up for the day, they are wild and feral as if they were shot out of a cannon. We find ourselves crying into bathroom towels, fearing this will be the final straw that causes our boss to fire us.”
‘My husband wrote, ‘Cancer is a gift.’ I scowled. Widowed at 35 with 3 adopted boys, I was angry as hell.’: Woman’s journey to new life thanks to 200-year-old haunted house
“BAM! He dies of freaking brain cancer. Yeah, I was pissed. What in the heck was I going to do with the rest of my life? I bought a 200-year-old house on a whim. People in town told me stories of her ghosts. You’re the lady who bought that crazy old house, right?’ Yep, that’s me.”
‘I couldn’t believe it. My brain told me, ‘Get another pregnancy test!’ I caved in. ‘What am I going to do?!’ Woman details shocking reaction from partner after positive pregnancy test
“I remember it like it was yesterday. The test was on my nightstand. The second he saw the papers, his entire perspective shifted. He became finicky. But most of all, he was so cold. ‘Get an abortion or I’ll commit suicide.’ My heart shattered.”
‘I love my family and friends. I genuinely do. But those dearest can wear me out.’: Woman explains the need for alone time is not a ‘personality flaw’
“My husband and I recently took our daughter on a 5-day road trip. We returned to host family, barbecue with friends. I loved every bit of it. I did. But then I crashed. I wanted nothing more than a nap in a dark, quiet room. I was 100%, without a doubt, suffering from a social hangover. I love people, but peopling requires lots of energy.”
‘Who could I call? To say I was sick? I was dismissed at 1 a.m., my husband and kids asleep. I thought about that in my lonely Uber drive home from the hospital.’ Mother’s realization about ‘isolating, lonely’ life
“I was off to the hospital in an ambulance. Even though I was sick, I was a little bit happy. I was living the hospital fantasy that mothers dream about. Time alone! I was asked how I was doing constantly; I was doted on. ME! But eventually, sadness crept in. This hospital room felt like the four walls were closing in.”
‘Here’s to being 30 and married!’ Everyone lifted their glasses in unison. I drove home in tears, 33 and single.’: Woman faces ‘stigma’ for being ‘unmarried and childless’
“My breakup was fresh. I had 2 weeks to shove all my belongings into trash bags. I noticed some whispering, glances my way. They finished off with a hurried cheers. ‘Lisa! Do you have any funny dating stories?!’ The exchange was, frankly, humiliating. I felt like I was deficient in hitting life’s expected mile markers: Marriage. Children. More children. As innocent as conversation can be, it hurts.”
‘I walked out of the auditorium, straight to the bathroom, and lost my baby.’: Woman has miscarriage as she walks across graduation stage, gets surprise from brother in heaven 1 year later
“The doctors couldn’t pinpoint exactly when my miscarriage would happen, so we decided I would still walk the stage. As I sat in my seat while the president talked to the crowd, everything started happening. My body finally let go.”