“I was pregnant and with my kids’ dad at the time, so I didn’t give him the time of day. He told me he had herpes. Just like that. After a year, and he is just now telling me.”
‘He wouldn’t give me my son. He slammed me into the wall so hard I blacked out.’: Woman shares heartbreaking story of abuse, ‘You don’t realize it’s not right until it’s too late’
‘My mind is always racing, and I can’t turn it off.’: Special needs mom gets candid about mental health, urges ‘find the joy’
“I know immediately when someone is being genuine with me, and when someone is just ‘getting along to get along.'”
‘Just stop being OCD and relax!’ I wish I could. Trust me.’: Woman gets real about mental health, urges ‘be kind to people’
“I’m convinced my husband is dead if he’s even five minutes late. I can’t drive behind log trucks because I get actual full-on mental pictures of the post-accident carnage. But I do a terrific job of ‘pretending.'”
‘Domestic violence is a funny thing. It can take YEARS to untangle the toxic beliefs in our minds.’: Woman celebrates 6 years of ‘freedom’ after getting out of abusive relationship
“She has taught me so much, led me home, and reminded me of my humanity. I love her.”
‘You need help. You’re NOT okay.’: New mom, divorcee finds ‘a way out of the darkness’ during postpartum depression
“The silence was better than him not being here. I’d get an email from him just simply saying, ‘I love you.’ In between heartache and the grief of losing my dad, I was letting go of my 7-year marriage to a man I realized never loved the REAL me.”
‘The doctor said, ‘You’ll get fat and never dance again.’: Nephrotic syndrome warrior proves illness ‘does not define me’
“Only 18, I burst into tears, thinking my life was over. Now, I can only thank the doctor for giving me a reason to prove them wrong.”
‘We have your husband.’ A pit formed in my stomach. Looking back, my heart hadn’t really begun to break yet.’: Widow shares ‘the pits and peaks of grief’ after losing husband
“The nurse drew the curtain back and I crumbled. His big feet stuck out from the sheets. I bent and kissed his head three times as we did every time we left each other.”
‘I waited 39 years to be a mom. I’m not going to waste a single moment.’: Mom teaches self-love to daughter
“I wanted her to have my heart and her dad’s wit. I did NOT want her to hear the ugly words I had once told myself. In order to be different for her, I needed to be different for me.”
‘There was a ring with MY name on it!’: Janitor with cerebral palsy ‘overwhelmed’ by football team’s act of kindness
“No work is meaningless, no job mundane. When we seek to do our work, whatever it may be, with a heart of joy, even scrubbing toilets can touch an entire nation.”
‘He’s the perfect child for us!’ We noticed Little Man was struggling. I felt like we were ripping him away from all he knew.’: Same-sex couple share adoption journey
“We saw the profile of a little boy who had the most infectious smile. This was it. Our son was within reach.”
‘You treat them like they’re yours!’ She said it as if it were a bad thing. I made the heartbreaking decision to get ‘too attached.’: Foster mom celebrates reunification, ‘Every moment of doubt was worth it’
“Day in and day out, we kissed their boo-boos, cuddled them to sleep, and read them stories. My heart broke when I thought about the moments their parents were missing.”
‘I was tired of coughing up blood. People stared at the sick girl carrying the oxygen tank on her back. I had enough!’: Woman with Cystic Fibrosis survives double lung transplant
“At 16, my health deteriorated. I was oxygen-dependent 24 hours a day. I was tired of being breathless all the time and coughing non-stop. One morning, that life-changing phone call came.”
‘My doctor wrote off my symptoms as ‘being pregnant.’ I felt them cut me open.’: New mom urges awareness of PPCM
“They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die, but it was different for me. I wasn’t scared.”
‘I’d been on my phone. I might have judged another mom, had I seen her doing the same thing.’: Mom reminds others not to judge
“I couldn’t process what I’d heard. I still haven’t.”
‘I caught him in lie after lie. ‘But it’s MOSTLY wonderful!’ I had to choose whether I was going down with him.’: Woman leaves abusive husband, finds love again, ‘I’m no longer that scared girl’
“I stood barefoot in the dark, cold parking lot, sobbing, hoping he would follow me and tell me to come back home and everything would be okay. He never came.”
‘I’m STUPID. I can’t do ANYTHING right.’ These words are like a knife to my heart. Everything in me wants to tell them they’re wrong: Mom urges ‘EMBRACE your difficult feelings’
“My reaction didn’t help, obviously.”
‘I felt nothing. The alarm started sounding and nurses flooded into the room. All I could say was, ‘Does she have it?’: Mom recounts labor experience of daughter with Down syndrome
“And when the nurse said to me, ‘Are you okay? You don’t seem excited.’ I hated her for it. I hated that I hated her for it, but I did. They began inducing me, and the minute they did I started contracting.”
‘Looks like motherhood is treating you well.’ I didn’t want to turn him down twice. ‘Don’t you believe my granddaughter deserves better?’: Single mom meets future husband on MySpace
“I had never dated anyone outside my race. I didn’t think I was ready.”
‘He raged, ‘Just STOP eating.’ Shocked and embarrassed, I did. I learned to eat quietly or not at all.’: Woman seeks recovery from eating disorder, trauma, ‘I’m reclaiming my joy’
“‘STOP scraping your teeth on your fork!’ he yelled. I feared family meals. I became strong when skinny and untouchable when numb.”
‘I was driving out of the parking lot when I saw you hunched over, tears running down your face. Your husband was holding you, and I knew instantly.’: Mom pens letter to grieving mama
“I was you 10 years ago.”
‘A little old lady complimented my car. I could have just said thank you. Instead, I said, ‘I bought it after my husband died.’ She had tears in her eyes.’: Woman shares touching moment with stranger over love and grief
“She told me she’s a widow, too. She told me about losing her daughter. I did something I rarely do—I slowed down. I leaned in. I listened.”
‘I remember what it was like being 13. The social stress. The fear of embarrassment. And NONE of it was happening during a PANDEMIC.’: Mom strives to teach daughter ‘not everything matters as much as you think’
“She’s conscientious. A hard worker by nature. She needs to know it’s okay to let some things go.”
‘You’ve been breastfeeding too long, you’re only doing it for you.’ Why should I stop breastfeeding my child just because he has reached a certain age?’: Mom tandem nurses toddler and newborn
“Bowie is now 3 years old and my daughter, Tigerlily, is 6 months old. Bowie still breastfeeds 5 times a day. Seeing my babies hold hands while they breastfeed at the same time makes it all worth it.”
‘I’m here now, you can get up… JD, I’m here now.’ I became a widow at the age of 38.’: Widowed mom navigates solo parenthood and dating after loss, ‘I have so much love to give’
“He then said, ‘Okay, my turn… close your eyes,’ so I did. When he told me to open them, he was on one knee holding a diamond. My grandmother’s diamond.”
‘Enough is enough.’ The moment she wrote me back and agreed to a fresh start was a huge relief.’: Moms come together and make amends to co-parent
“I could hear her crying to John. She told him, ‘Please, tell the kids I love them!!’ It crushed me, but it was then I looked at her.”