“The heartbreak is nothing compared to the day they come through the door and take off their coat.”
‘I know we’re setting you up for heartbreak.’ Something about them just felt right. They were home.’: Mom adopts brothers after infertility battle, ‘My boys are an answered prayer’
10 Summer Safety Tips For Kids
“Keep kids safe without taking the fun away.”
‘We’re looking for a hand-up, not a handout.’: DC homeless man on a mission to end homelessness for good
“Get to know people before you judge them. Everyone has a story.”
‘I pulled my son from tee-ball. ‘Don’t you think that’s a bit cruel? Let your boy be a man.’: Mom urges ‘let your kids be who they are in their heart and soul’
“I will never force my son to ‘be a man,’ I will teach my son to be a kind human being who embraces his own interests and identity.”
‘As I rinsed my car, a man from behind placed a knife at my throat. Hand over my mouth, he dragged me to the floor of his car, forcing handcuffs around my wrists.’: Kidnapping, sexual assault survivor urges ‘there is abundant life after trauma’
“19 years old, I’d found a part-time job waiting tables at a local Olive Garden for the summer. One blistering hot day in July, I dropped a coworker off at work, looking forward to her shift ending so we could go out dancing. I had no idea my life was about to be turned upside down.”
‘One of Eliza’s eyes was sticking out. The doctor took one look and said, ‘I think she has a tumor.’: Mom’s two kids diagnosed with cancer 2 weeks apart
“As soon as he found out, our pediatrician said, ‘Take your son Oliver to the oncologist, too.’ I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.”
‘The doctor walked in and said, ‘It’s time to take him.’ A rush of fear came over me. We were supposed to have another week.’: Heart warrior ‘defies the odds one day at a time’
“Thoughts of a nice smooth pregnancy went out the window. My biggest fears were coming to life.”
‘Both of his eyes bounced. I knew there was something wrong.’: Mom says ‘we didn’t know how beautiful raising a blind child would be’
“I cried every time I thought of him not being able to see my face. It was hard not to grieve the baby we once dreamed of.”
‘My husband grabbed my hand. ‘Just breathe, babe.’ It started like always. The heavy breathing. The sweaty hands. The turning stomach.’: Woman says ‘he doesn’t buy me flowers, but he sits with me in my lowest moments’
“I was always told to wait for the man who would bring me flowers, hold the door open, and buy me jewelry just because. But the man I’m so grateful I waited for, is the man who does things in silence.”
‘My cell phone vibrated. ‘Children’s genetics ANSWER.’ This was the moment I’d been waiting for.’: New mom shares journey parenting child with Prader-Willi Syndrome
“12 years into this gig, I can confidently say parenting a child with a disability isn’t for the faint of heart.”
‘Last night my 10-year-old son came into my room sobbing because he received a bad grade on an exam he studied very hard for.’: Mom urges ‘grades cannot determine our children’s worth’
“As tears filled the corners of his eyes, his exact words to me were, ‘I feel like a failure. I’m never going to make it into college. I hate myself.’ THIS is what letters and numbers do to our children.”
‘Your placenta looks really bad.’ By the time I got to the hospital, I could barely walk.’: Mom shares grief of child loss, ‘You’re stronger than you think’
“My husband was over the moon. ‘Oh my god, our own team!’ I mourned being pregnant for a while.”
What To Say To A Sexual Assault Survivor
“It’s THIS easy to be supportive.”
‘You should have avoided the situation. Others have it MUCH worse.’: Sexual assault survivor says ‘trauma is not a competition’
“I told myself, ‘You should have been smarter.’ But it’s not up to you. It is NEVER your fault.”
‘We’ve been turned down 35 TIMES by surrogates for our sexual orientation.’: Gay couple have twins via surrogacy
“We’ve been called the f-word in a Home Depot parking lot. We’ve had horrible and nasty DMs on social media. But our kids have two parents who love them DEARLY, and they’re better off for it.”
‘Could you help me?’ They pretended I didn’t exist and placed a stigma on me.’: Blind woman shares ‘humiliating’ experience while on walk with guide dog
“I was so embarrassed by their response I was SHAKING.”
Sometimes, I Don’t Want To Be The Mom
“Sometimes, I don’t want to worry about the drinks and the snacks and the sunscreen and the chairs and ‘Did you go potty?’ or ‘Make sure you bring a jacket!’ Sometimes I don’t want to make dinner. Again. Or load the dishes. Again. Sometimes, I’m not ‘cherishing every moment.’ I’m surviving.”
‘When numbers and letters claim a child has fallen behind, here’s the thing. There is no behind. Behind is a flat-out lie.’: Mom urges ‘our kids are so much more than how the world measures them’
“Our kids are so much more than how the world measures them. We cannot measure their hearts and their souls…but oh, if we could, the beauty found there would bring us to our actual knees.”
Let’s Make It Clear, Having Too Many Drinks DOESN’T Lead To Sexual Assault
“We’re NOT the cause of what happened to us.”
‘Men broke into my house. There’s blood all over the walls.’ There was my mom, wild-eyed and terrified.’: Daughter becomes caregiver to mom with dementia
“When I got to the house, there were no men, no blood. I dove headfirst into my new role.”
‘She sent my son to save me.’: Grieving daughter gets pregnant with miracle rainbow baby in wake of mom’s death
“The day after Mother’s Day, my brother called at 3:30 a.m. ‘Momma has BEEN shot.’ I know without a shadow of a doubt my mom she sent my son to save me the second she got to heaven. And that is exactly what he’s been doing since he took his first breath on this Earth.”
‘My husband popped the trunk. Out fell our giant brown bag, spilling dozens of whiskey bottles onto the asphalt. My son’s expression said it all.’: Mom of 3 shares sobriety journey
“When I was younger, my mom asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. A stay-at-home mom addicted to alcohol wasn’t part of that equation.”
‘We’d been home from the hospital 3 nights when I saw two missed calls from the pediatrician. I knew this was life-changing.’: Mom shares daughter’s journey with Cystic Fibrosis
“Shay had bright green stool no one in the hospital could figure out. ‘Her infant panel results came back. There is no cure.’ After hanging up, I broke down crying.”
‘When the nurse removed the bandages, I held my breath and squeezed my eyes closed.’: Woman shares journey with bilateral cleft lip and palate
“I expected fireworks. I might finally feel whole and love myself completely. Instead, I felt betrayed by myself.”
‘We won’t call you unless there’s bad news.’ I’ll never forget hearing the phone ring.’: Mom shares daughter’s Down syndrome diagnosis, ‘My eyes see beauty so differently’
“I grieved the baby I thought I was going to have. I grieved the baby I thought I wanted. I felt not fit for this.”