“Operations and prosthetics included, our daughter has been a dream since birth.”
‘They put Mia on my stomach. We saw her hand and foot were different before they took her away. It was the longest hour in my life.’: Mom to daughter with congenital limb difference vows ‘I wouldn’t have her any other way’
‘He jumped out and screamed boo during hide and seek. She never turned around; she was still wondering where he went.’: Mom details her and daughter’s journey being hard of hearing
“She started to sign to me. ‘I don’t use sign language, I can hear and talk.’ I had unintentionally made a judgment about Deaf/HoH people, not realizing I’d judged myself in the process.”
‘I used to be a horrible friend. I was alone, lost.’: Woman overcomes insecurities and anxieties to be better friend
“If someone had something great, I instantly felt less than. I was sarcastic, pessimistic, and judgmental. It was the swiftest, most needed kick in the face.”
‘The doctor secretly put in my chart, ‘Borderline personalities due to dislike of multiple providers.’ I was down to 107 pounds, in constant pain. No one was willing to listen.’: Nurse, chronic illness warrior shares emotional journey to diagnosis
“I was ignored by providers during my cries for help. Friends stopped asking me to hang out. My long-term partner was emotionally unavailable. I had to learn to pursue the life I deserved despite the labels.”
‘I was 8, ‘dating’ everyone in my grade for validation. I was acting out to feel something, ANYTHING.’: Woman overcomes body image issues, finds online support community
“I posted a TikTok, and it skyrocketed from one view to one million views within hours. Then thousands of hate comments came in.”
6 Things You NEED To Know Before Adopting
“Despite being deemed competent and fit by my state of residence to adopt, I was ill-prepared for all that comes with bringing a child from another family into my home.”
‘Your mom left you with me to babysit and never returned.’ He was a young Marine, just back from the Vietnan war. He made the ultimate sacrifice.’: Adoptee shares journey to self-acceptance, motherhood
“‘Initially I found a babysitter for you, but I realized you needed stability, so I brought you home – and filed for adoption,’ he said. He was my first love, my first teacher, my first protector. He encouraged me to believe in myself.”
‘I hid behind my mom the 1st day of kindergarten, afraid to walk into a room of kids who did not yet know I was different.’: Woman with alopecia shares self-love journey, ‘I show up for myself’
“A close friend asked, ‘Can you be a bridesmaid at my wedding?’ I realized I couldn’t do it with my usual head coverings. The whole time at the wig shop, I cried. With each one I tried on, I felt like I was giving up, forced to resign, like I was surrendering to a new life with no hope.”
‘He said they were ‘non-symptomatic.’ I was sent off feeling relieved it wasn’t worse—if only I knew.’: Woman shares journey with Tarlov Cyst Disease to raise awareness
“When I woke up, I had lost sensation completely in my left leg, and I lost control of my bladder. The pain was excruciating.”
‘We shoot 1000 pictures of the same instant, but we often forget to live it.’: College student urges ‘capture the moment’ rather than the picture
“‘The quality of the pictures suck.’ I wasn’t worried if my smile was too big, or if my hair was messy, or if my makeup was smeared, and it truly made all the difference.”