“I mentioned his choice to my wife. Jack loves all things that sparkle. I wondered what his teachers and other adults might think. We paused immediately.”
‘Jack asked to wear his sister’s pants. He had his eye on them since they appeared. We both paused.’: Mom worries about son’s self expression, ‘Will they chalk it up to us, his two mom’s?’
‘How could a mom let this happen?’ She clung to the social worker with snot on her face. She couldn’t look at me.’: Foster mother pens open letter to bio mom, ‘I’m cheering for you always’
“They imagine your home being a toxic environment. They imagine your children wanting nothing to do with you. The reality is, for the first 24 hours, we mostly talked about how much she loves you.”
‘I feel like I’m betraying my mom.’ We drowned the first year. I stepmom-ed so hard, it almost broke me.’: Woman describes becoming a blended family, ‘My job is just to love them’
“I needed to take a step back. I had been trying so hard to help my stepchildren go through the healing process, I jumped into the mom role way too quickly. It wasn’t my job to fill the void.”
‘Maybe she’s not a bad friend. Maybe she really did miss your text. Her plate is completely full, and she’s coping the best way she knows how.’: Woman urges ‘love each other through the tough seasons’
“Friendship sometimes means loving each other through the tough seasons, and the rainy weather, and all the ups and downs.”
‘Do they know you have a wife?’ She said, ‘H*ll no. She knows I have kids, though.’: Wife accidentally outs spouse, worries for the judgment to come, ‘I hope one day it won’t matter who we love’
“I outed her without realizing I did it. She has a long list of clients who she has worked hard to impress. And then I lied to her about it.”
‘We caught each other’s eye on the way to addiction recovery. Two hopeless addicts, from completely different sides of the world.’: Couple beat addiction together, ‘There is always hope’
“It’s strange how love works.”
‘To my baby, you are the brightest spot of this difficult year. You are not cursed, you are not bad luck.’: Mom says newborn is ‘the beauty amidst the chaos’
“Whenever I feel overwhelmed by everything in this ‘unprecedented’ year, I hold you. And for a moment, I’m lost in the wonder which is you. You are not responsible for any of the difficulties of 2020, and you are not tied to them.”
‘Is he your son?’ I nodded and waited for the disbelief. He just smiled. ‘I could tell. You look like best friends.’: Woman documents foster care journey, ‘Family runs deeper than blood’
“I remember the night he came home. I barely knew a handful of words. He had been told not to call me mom because I was not blood-related. It was not easy, but we grew together.”
‘I’ve had my accounts hacked. I’ve had my words twisted and changed to reflect me as a horrible person. I feel stronger.’: Woman who was hacked says ‘never give up’
“A boyfriend of years left me for another girl. I grabbed my phone and I wrote while my baby gnawed on my nipples.”
‘I will never forget the look on my parent’s faces. ‘I wish I could take this pain away from you.’ All I wanted was my baby.’: Mom recalls shock of infant’s stroke and seizures, ‘He is still perfect and he is all mine’
“I just wanted some chocolate milk. Upon returning from the cafeteria I see a man I do not recognize standing over my son. What’s wrong? Who is this guy? Why is he here? He was a respiratory therapist. Ian had had his first seizure. He had quit breathing.”