“No one said anything but there was some whispering and I was asked to start coming by every 2 hours. ‘Just to make sure,’ they said. There is nothing you can do except to trust the doctors but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong and nobody wanted to tell me.”
‘The doctor said, ‘I don’t like this, let’s do a C-section right away.’ I could hear them talking urgently, requests for tubes and oxygen — but no cry.’: Mom goes into preterm labor at 34 weeks, ‘Our family feels complete’
‘She bends over backwards. She texts, just to check on me. She determines to make my life easier, even if it makes her life a little harder.’: Woman pens appreciation letter to mother-in-law
“Today, my mother-in-law delivered this pan to our doorstep with a hot meal tucked inside, before getting back into her car to drive home and finally eat her own dinner. If only Hollywood knew.”
‘We waited up for Daddy to come home. I called him and it went to voicemail. At 4 a.m. I got a life-changing call. ‘Oh, no honey, he didn’t survive.’: Woman loses boyfriend in car accident, ‘Hug your loved ones tight’
“I had just woken up. ‘Hello, are you the owner of a 2019 Mazda CX-5? Your vehicle was involved in an accident.’ He veered off the road and hit a concrete block that held up an interstate sign. They didn’t know who he was. Those words didn’t feel real.”
‘The server dropped off the check, and that’s when I realized. WHERE IS MY DEBIT CARD?’: Mom hilariously recounts ‘missing’ debit card, ‘I am NOT made for adulting’
“It’s not in my pockets. Not in my car. Not on the kitchen counter. So, I skivvy down for my sadness shower and… wait. Stuck to my boob. Because OBVIOUSLY.”
‘Look, it’s your mom and dad!’ Our hearts exploded. A wild and grand new adventure began.’: Mom shares the ‘unknowns’ of adoption, ‘I’d choose it all again’
“She came with in utero exposure. I didn’t expect 3-hour tantrums in the middle of the mall. The shenanigans, the messes, the crying… there was never a dull moment.”
I Found My Long-Lost Biological Dad, And My Life Is Finally Complete
“I found a mysterious name on my birth certificate. ‘Is this REAL? Like, am I actually doing this?’ I nervously sent him a message. My whole life was a lie.”
‘How will you manage a career with kids?’ I felt broken. Who was I if I never became a mom?’: Woman balances career with motherhood, ‘You have the power to CHOOSE’
“Every month was a roller coaster. ‘I recommend cutting back on work.’ My jaw dropped. Any possibility of becoming a mother left the building.”
‘I threw my hands up. ‘God, if you make me do foster care, I’ll scream!’ We haven’t stopped changing diapers since.’: Woman becomes foster parent, ‘It’s about giving’
“I wrote our honest list: ‘We are NOT baby people. I am so over that phase.’ One stormy night, a baby was dropped off. I’m 1000 percent sure God was laughing.”
‘I KNOW timeouts don’t work. But my four-year-old has been chanting, for all the neighbors to hear, ‘Meany-head mommy.’: Mom urges ‘grace, even when we least deserve it’
“I know what you’re thinking. She’s four. You’re thirty-four. Why would you even have to control yourself. I put my four-year-old in timeout on the patio, and she’s been chanting for over five minutes.”
‘Nothing terrifies me more than returning to the workplace. A workplace full of judgement and critique, stress and guilt. I am a MOTHER first, and an EMPLOYEE second.’: Mom shares fear of going back to work
“A workplace where, likely, but hopefully not, work and clients will have to come first, and family, well, if you have and are ‘into’ those, must come second.”
‘There are no shortcuts, no finish line. I root for the boy who never spoke, for exactly who you are, and the person you may become.’: Special needs mom shares journey with autism
“But I do know that in your way, and your own time, you will do great things. I’ll stand on the ground while you soar above me. I’ll look to the sky and wave, even if you don’t look down long enough to notice.”
‘I felt waves of heat and a tingling as I fell to the ground. ‘I think I’m dying!’ Something inside me hurt badly.’: Woman details journey with Borderline Personality Disorder
“My mom had to peel me off the side of the road in front of our home. I don’t think they understood it hurt, like my heart was being slashed to bits. Alcohol and mental illness don’t mix.”
Thank You To My Husband Who Chose To Stay
“We said goodbye to date nights and weekend getaways. You held my hand through evaluations, IEPS, and doctor’s appointments, and let me sneak a nap when I was too tired to carry on. You loved me when the diagnosis of autism changed who I was.”
‘I couldn’t get ‘high enough’ anymore. I went from a meeting to my dealer. Then I almost died.’: Woman recounts sobriety journey, ‘I finally accepted help’
“I remember waking up the next morning ashamed. I panicked. I wasn’t ready to be done using yet.”
‘I left in the middle of a conversation. It’s OKAY to protect your heart. Get out and DON’T look back.’: Woman pushes ‘unfollow’ mentality, ‘Be careful what you give your energy to’
“One of those weird arguments that happen in online groups of humans brought together by a common sport, a school, or neighborhood. It had nothing to do with the other people and had everything to do with my heart.”
‘I’m not model material.’ I was skeptical. I’ve NEVER seen a supermodel that looks like me.’: Woman with facial abnormality walks in fashion show, ‘Representation matters’
“Not a single girl looked like anyone else. There were girls of all shapes, sizes, races, and abilities. I threw my shoulders back and walked the runway with my head held high.”
‘Just leave it all, sweetie. Leave the mess. It means you were around today, and a little piece of you is still here.’: Grandma shares sweet reminder to ‘never take life for granted’
“How often do we hustle and bustle to pick up our home’s messes? How often do we grumble at our little ones to ‘please’ straighten up? The moment took my breath away, and filled my heart with a bittersweet reminder.”
‘EVERYTHING healed wrong. I was experiencing bouts of pain, and my foot started turning black. I couldn’t lift my head without passing out.’: Woman diagnosed with CRPS shares story, ‘I want my pain to have a purpose’
“I’m not the only person told by a doctor all conventional treatment options have failed. I was told nothing else can be done to decrease my pain. Those are words no one wants to hear, especially someone in their 20s with decades ahead of them.”
‘Are they siblings? Where are their parents?’ People ask me point-blank in front of the kids.’: Adoptee turned single foster parent vows ‘I’ll protect them fiercely’
“‘How long have you had them?’ They already know they’re not home. We end up in tears as they struggle with the loss. They shouldn’t have to hear these questions.”
‘They held her eyes open with metal prongs. ‘Your little girl is blind.’ I had to protect her.’: Mom gives birth to 2 albino babies, ‘They were meant to do this together’
“Everywhere we went, people pointed. ’Ew, what’s wrong with her eyes?’ I’d come home angry at the world. ‘I’ll just bubblewrap her and keep her by my side forever.’ She made her own path.”
‘Something’s happened to Drew. We were on our way to the park.’ I thought, ‘He’ll be OK.’ I had to keep my promise to him.’: Woman with CHD becomes advocate after losing nephew to disease
“The doctor said, ‘Time to pray.’ She’d never seen so many tubes in such a little body. They filled with blood. ‘We’re having a problem.’”
‘Will they make it on their own?’ The universal mom ache comes every time we say goodbye.’: Mom says ‘with each goodbye comes a sacred hello’
“Their first steps onto the school bus, that very first sleepover. As she backs out of the driveway with her newfound freedom, memories of a toddler in her car seat and seemingly endless pickups fade. ‘Will they make it on their own?’ The ache is fresh and raw.”
‘You sure don’t look blind.’ It gets old. Every day, I am being robbed of my remaining vision.’: Woman with rare visual impairment urges ‘be kind always’
“When I use my white cane, I am not faking it. I am letting you know I can’t see well, if at all.”
‘When your big kid texts, ‘Can I come home for the weekend?’ you jump at the chance and say a resounding ‘Y-E-S.’: Mom to ‘big kid’ reminds us to cherish every moment
“You run outside like you haven’t seen her in years—even though it’s only been 5 weeks. As she snuggles you on the couch, a lump forms in your throat while memories flood of that little girl spinning in a circle. Every day, you love her more than you ever have.”
‘Dear God, keep him safe.’ I waved as he turned into the fields, and said the same words I say every year.’: Spouse of farmer urgers ‘every prayer counts’
“I pray for them as they drive the busy roads into town. I pray their equipment functions as it should. I pray that, on late nights when they are weary from lack of sleep, God will grant them alertness to finish the work.”