“A dear friend mentioned therapy, very casually over delicious avocado toast and latte. I finally bit the bullet and gave in. I cried so hard I could feel the ghosts of all my unspoken terrors lifting off my shoulders.”
‘He was cheating. ‘How will we break it to the kids?’ I waddled through bankruptcy. Divorce was the lifesaver I needed.’: Divorcee details journey to self-love
‘Listen to me, if you ever bring home a non-white boy, I will disown you.’ If I wanted to date outside my race, I’d have to do it in secret.’: Woman raised in racist home urges ‘create a family that radiates love’
“At 17, I was kicked out of the house. It didn’t make sense to me that the color of someone’s skin was dangerous. I couldn’t carry around the weight of her hate. ‘Will you marry me?’ He was Muslim, I was not. His love for me went deeper than our beliefs.”
‘He moved in with us. Soon, he went from the couch to the bed. We realized our marriage wasn’t complete. HE was missing.’: Triad has 8-month-old, ‘Thanks to our son, we stopped hiding’
“It wasn’t possible to sign 3 parents on the birth certificate. At the moment, polygamy is illegal. We needed to step out of the shadows and do the coming out. Thanks to him, we stopped hiding.”
‘We noticed some things about her hand and foot.’ Mom found doctor after doctor, even when they couldn’t do anything for me.’: Woman advocates for limb differences, ‘I tried until I got it right’
“A girl saw my hand and screamed like I was a monster. I cried every single day. My father held me after my surgeries when I was sick from anesthesia. He always showed he believed in me and I could do anything.”
‘He looked at me sadly. ‘But I just want to tell you one more thing!’ I huffed and said, ‘No, go to bed!’: Mom advocates for mental health
“‘Mommy is on empty.’ As I got up, he was standing there, looking at me. I couldn’t speak because I was trying not to cry like a harpooned whale.”
‘Mom, I just hate school.’ My sweet boy getting ready for school, echoing what he’s said for days. See, he really just wants to play.’: Mom writes note to son ‘wishing away school’
“He doesn’t fit the mold, and that’s okay.”
‘WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?!’ I created a narrative of this perfect girl. We needed her!’: Mom shares ‘gender disappointment’
“I wasn’t ready for the comments. The ‘OMG ANOTHER BOY?!’ comments. The ‘wow looks like you’re outnumbered’ comments. The ‘maybe next time’ comments.”
‘We kept our relationship a secret. ‘I don’t care how people view me, I just want to be with you.’ We came out as a couple, but I was still struggling.’: Transgender man shares love and coming out story, ‘Now we are a family of 6 and thriving’
“At 5, I introduced myself as ‘Kaleb.’ When watching movies, I was supposed to envision myself like the princess, but I saw myself as Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. ‘When I grow up, I’m going to cut my hair short and wear boy clothes.’ If I hadn’t chose the path I did, where would I be today?”
‘I couldn’t find an Uber. A few drinks in was the sweet spot. I needed to go home. In the moment, I felt sorry for him.’: Abuse survivor recounts chilling night
“At about 4 a.m. we were winding down. I needed to get back to my daughter. I wish I could say I ended it right then. We loaded up and headed back to the hotel. I should’ve gone home. I thought somehow I could fix him.”
‘Real talk: I am tired. I’ve gained 20 pounds, and I miss my church family. This isn’t normal. It isn’t okay.’: Woman struggling with mental health says ‘It’s normal to feel done and over it’
“The internet is losing it’s mind. My mental health is in the toilet. We simply can’t escape it. I am also tired of pretending.”