“Our doctor couldn’t do the emergency surgery. My father-in-law did. I tried to enjoy every moment I had with her. Jason and I were surrounded by love, and so was our little girl.”
‘I couldn’t believe it. I opened the pregnancy test and there was my first ever positive. BIG FAT POSITIVE! Baby was the size of a pearl. ‘That’s not good.’ Dr. Hiener said. ‘Did she fall out?’
‘My mom rushed in shouting, ‘Get up! Get up! I need you to keep your dad from getting out of bed.’ I sprinted to their room. ‘911? This must be serious! My mom is running, she never runs!’
“My dad was a zombie. He groaned this horrendous noise. As tears rushed down my cheeks, I ran over. There was a surprise guest waiting to pick me up. ‘They are not sure your mom is going to make it,’ he said. ‘But everyone said it wouldn’t be like my dad!,’ was all I kept repeating.”
‘I got in the shower. ‘Dana, are you alright?’ My boyfriend heard a loud crash. He rolled me on my side, stuck his fingers in my mouth.’: Woman with epilepsy explains how she has ‘cheated death’ countless times
“My boyfriend heard a loud crash. ‘Dana, are you alright?!’ No response. He rushed in thinking our shower curtain simply fell. It did. But me with it. I began to choke as he rolled me on my side and stuck his fingers in my mouth. My guard was down. I woke up in the back of an ambulance.”
‘I gave birth to my son while high on methamphetamine. I wish I could tell you I sobered up, but I did not. We were joined at the hip. We were both addicts, but wanted to be sober.’
“I was so afraid. I just knew CPS was going to take him, but a miracle happened. He was born completely clean. No drugs in his system. He was perfectly healthy. Neal and I cried and cried. We went home that following Monday and swore we would stay sober.”
‘On my birthday, my husband drank too much. He started calling me his ‘future ex-wife’ in front of all my friends. Something felt off, but I ignored my gut. It was the worst mistake of my life.’
“He’d been acting strangely and kept telling me, ‘You deserve better.’ That was the first clue. I had no idea what sparked this until the next morning when I jumped out of bed with my heart in my throat. Before I knew it, a ‘Take my Ex’s Stuff Yard Sale’ was in full effect.”
‘What mother does that? Have some decency!’ He was screaming for milk and I hurried to lift my top. Another said, ‘Do you think she knows who the father is?’ I was mortified.’
“I remember thinking, ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Neither of them directly spoke to me. They made no point in hiding their conversation. ‘I hate when women seek attention. It’s like, that’s how she got into this mess to begin with.'”
‘If you’re not busy on Monday, you can come see me in the hospital?’ We left our info with this stranger. He showed up for 6 hours, talking and calming us down.’: Mom touched by waiter’s outstanding act of kindness
“He stood in that ICU waiting for Tommy to open his eyes so he could fulfill his promise to an 8-year-old boy he did not know. THANK YOU IS NOT ENOUGH.”
‘I still remember the text I sent my husband. ‘Do you want TWO babies?’ Boy, girl, black, biracial, a year apart, biologically shared one parent. My voice trailed off.’
“When I saw my son-to-be’s date of birth, I choked back tears. To understand why, I need to rewind. My husband was feeling run down. It was sudden and pronounced fatigue, odd for an avid cyclist. At 32 years old, he was fit. We both shrugged it off. I promised our kids we wouldn’t be gone long.”
‘It’s going to be okay. I’m here,’ she said into my hair, holding me tight. A perfect stranger was rocking me like a child in the airport.’: Woman recalls stranger’s act of kindness after brother dies in tragic accident
“‘Your brother was kite-surfing. They don’t know what happened.’ I fell utterly to pieces. I found a quiet gate down the concourse and slumped down with my suitcase and a massive jumble of airport toilet paper. Opening my eyes, I saw a beautiful woman. She simply opened her arms.”
‘Your dad is going to die. This is a gut-wrencher. You will adopt a child. He will be your brother – the 4th child your dad has with his new wife.’
“Your dad’s wife will die unexpectedly of a drug overdose, followed by your dad to cancer just days later. Before your dad dies, he will sign over custody to you. You will fight tooth and nail through the courts for this child. This is your rock bottom.”