“My husband joked, ‘You should do a presentation with all of the logistics.’ I presented one the next week.”
‘I finally blurted out, ‘What if we foster?’ I can’t bear to watch another child raised without unconditional love.’: Foster mom urges ‘every child should be embraced for who they are’
‘Mom, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t help it.’ The bed was soaked. She’d wake up in the middle of the night, begging for water.’: Mom shares daughter’s Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis, ‘She wears it like a badge of honor’
“We were tired of being peed on. ‘Go back to bed, I’m not cleaning up another mess.’ We cut off drinking water a couple hours before bed. Her desire for water increased.”
‘The smallest human you’ve ever seen holds strength mountains high. From their very first breath, they decided giving up wasn’t an option.’: Mom pens touching letter to micro preemie parents
“The NICU is not for the weak. It’s an experience handed out to only the strongest of people.”
‘There will be days you will hit rock bottom.’ I wish they asked about our support system. But I wish they would’ve finished with, ‘It WILL be okay.’: Mom to sons with autism says, ‘It’s challenging, but beautiful’
“Now, as we prepare for the third time around, I realize all I wish they had told us was, ‘It will be okay.'”
‘Why are you seeking a diagnosis?’ They didn’t believe me. I was an imposter living a neurotypical, picture-perfect life.’: Woman diagnoses herself with autism after decades of ‘masking’
“When I was out during the day, I was being who people needed me to be, then I would come home and put my dukes up. I felt like an imposter in the life I had built.”
‘I heard a child screaming. ‘Well, this will be a fun flight,’ I thought. Then, he saw the crackers in my bag. He walked up to me and said, ‘I’m hungry.’: Woman recounts moment of kindness at airport
“I remember thinking how odd it was.”
‘I screamed, ‘PULL OVER!’ My expectations did NOT match reality.’: New mom hilariously recounts birth of daughter on highway, ‘I’m prepared to catch another baby’
“I felt a sudden drop in my belly, my water finally broke, and I knew I wasn’t going to make it. In a knee-length fluffy pink bathrobe and white underwear, I put on a huge, long, overnight pad. I waddled down the stairs, as best I could, to the car. ‘We’ll never make it.'”
‘I’m going to come back and take you to Mexico.’ She needed TOTAL control. I gave all I was willing to give.’: Woman says mother ‘showed her which path NOT to take’ after years of abuse
“We would find her sleeping under my husband’s van, leaving bags of trash in my driveway and weird gifts at my door for the kids. All in an effort to guilt me into letting her into my house. I did not feel safe. I felt as if she might just pop out of the bushes and take one of the boys and I would never see them again. But I would NOT give in.”
‘I can’t see.’ He could no longer drive to get Valentine’s flowers, so he walked instead. 6 blocks post-transplant, blurry vision. ‘I wanted you to feel special.’: Widow recounts powerful 49-year love story
“Some ladies recently told me, ‘Velma, you had a relationship all women dream of. We’ve never seen it. Not many people get it, but you did.’ It’s true. Even though he’s gone, he gave me enough love to last two lifetimes.”
‘Yeah… okay. I’m definitely not straight.’ I was married to a man. I confessed, I cried, I asked God to take it away.’: Queer woman embraces identity after 31 years, ‘My sexuality is perfect, as God intended it to be’
“I knew I couldn’t act on it because of my religious upbringing. My attraction to women didn’t matter, and I was going to ignore it.”
‘Daddy won’t wake up!’ My world turned upside-down. How was I supposed to raise 3 kids alone?’: Widow starts bereavement support group, ‘We’ve helped thousands survive the nightmare of grief’
“One morning, Larry found a lump in his arm. He cried out, ‘I feel like I’m going to die!’ At 42 years old, I didn’t want to be a widow. How would I ever live without him?”
10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Foster Parent
“In our journey to open our home and our hearts, I failed to find true, honest, and comforting resources to show me what I could expect. So here I am, closing the gap.”
‘All I could think was, ‘How can I have PTSD? Isn’t that just for veterans?’ One traumatic event had changed my life forever.’: Community raises over $15k for trauma survivor in need of service dog
“I started passing out in stairwells and parking lots at just 15 years old. We thought it was a ‘fluke.’ My potassium was low, no big deal. After years with no answers and countless misdiagnoses, a neuropsychiatrist finally said, ‘Felicia, have you ever experienced trauma?’ My husband encouraged me to come clean.”
‘Do you work for her?’ they’d ask. ‘I’m her daughter.’ My parents being deaf isn’t a thing to be SORRY for.’: Daughter of deaf parents describe joys of growing up, ‘Experiencing this is a gift’
“My mom experienced REPEATED rejection while searching for jobs, and was told she wasn’t a good communicator. It’s not an IMPAIRMENT, it’s something to be proud of.”
‘The teacher said, ‘Your son is unteachable. He is the most autistic child in the group.’ It wasn’t true. He just needed someone to care.’: Boy thriving after mom pulls him out of neglectful school
“He now gleefully puts on his backpack.”
‘Everybody can breathe with their mouth closed?’ I was dumbfounded. How had I never noticed?’: Woman with severe nasal blockage takes first breath through nose after 26 years
“I stopped and took a breath. A real, deep breath. The first in 26 years. The moment my car door closed, I burst into tears. I was completely, utterly over the moon.”
‘We need to talk.’ There was something ‘about his past’ he had to tell me in person. My mind started racing.’: Mom shares journey blending families, ‘I love my perfectly imperfect family’
“The moment he told me, I broke down in tears, realizing our relationship had to end. Deep down, I knew this it was different.”
‘There’s no wrong way to celebrate or mourn your loved one. There’s no rulebook for this.’: Widow honors husband on anniversary of his passing, ‘Do what feels good for YOU’
“Everything I’ve done and figured out in the wake of his death has been a first-hand, trial and error experience. This year, we did things a little differently.”
‘I’m allergic to WATER. People call me a ‘faker.’ I should’ve seen this coming. But I’m so GRATEFUL.’: Woman with EDS, POTS, and aquagenic urticaria says ‘I want to raise awareness’
“I remember being in a lot of pain and visiting the first aid room at school and being sent away, as it was most likely ‘growing pains.’ I have to accept I can’t get a role as physical as I’d like, but this is part of having a disability, learning what you can and can’t do.”
‘BOTH girls were diagnosed with cancer. They’re only 3. I created a way to celebrate their courageous lives.’: Mom of twin daughters battling cancer creates Etsy shop, ‘It will make us, and others, happy’
“All I want and strive for is happiness. I will fight and our twins will fight. They are my heroes.”
‘We decorated your hospital room instead of your nursery. What To Expect When You’re Expecting missed the chapter about you.’: Mom shares touching tribute to Congenital Heart Disease warrior
“Newborn photos were replaced by pre-heart surgery snapshots. Your first haircut was a side shave, needed to place an IV. Every day of your short life, you taught us how to love.”
‘I have over 1,000 people living in my body, all with different personalities.’: Person with Dissociative Identity Disorder seeks to educate others
“All of them have different personalities, perspectives, opinions, feelings. Most of the time, things get quite messy and chaotic.”
‘Newborn girl, two days old. You’ve been chosen!’ We prepared for another heartbreak. Would this end the way it had before?’: Couple adopts after scam and disruption, ‘She was worth every part of our story’
“She placed her baby in Eric’s arms. I’ll never forget watching him fall in love with that tiny, 5-pound newborn. 4 hours later, we were asked to go home. After years of waiting, we were offered a gift.”
‘I woke up one day with a burning sensation in my arm. ‘You brought this on yourself with stress.’ I wasn’t convinced.’: Woman with Multiple Sclerosis urges ‘keep pushing for answers’
“It was clear people expected me to look different. ‘You’re too young to be diagnosed.’ I was handed a folder with my brain scans for ‘peace of mind.’”
‘DON’T let it hurt him like it did your brother.’ I can still smell the hospital and hear him cry. My son would be SUCCESSFUL.’: Sister of brother with autism becomes single mom to special needs son
“I had a front-row seat to how the world treated my brother. I knew how cruel the system could be. He was constantly told he could not achieve his goals and desires, but he told the world, ‘Just watch me.’”