“Women are FIGHTING for their lives, not their boobs.”
‘Men are wearing ‘Save the Tatas’ and ‘Help Save Second Base’ shirts. ‘Great boobs are worth fighting for’ slogans are circulating.’: Woman pens PSA on breast cancer
‘I didn’t want to say this over email, but we picked someone else for the job.’ After a year of rejections, I lost my sense of worth.’: Woman details company’s act of kindness after job rejection
“Out of the blue, a month later, I received an email from them: ‘We’d like to offer you a $150 stipend for your dedication.’ They thanked me for the time and effort I put into my application and interviews. I was floored.”
‘I want to be pregnant.’ My heart shattered. Then, we heard about a 3-day-old boy.’: Couple battling infertility become foster, adoptive parents, ‘Hang onto hope’
“Our son’s birth mom chose our family. He was handed to me and I was instantly in love. ‘Amanda, you’re pregnant.’ Our lives were changed forever.”
‘As I snapped this photo I said, ‘Smile so Daddy can see what a big boy you’re being!’ My heart broke. It’s not supposed to be like this.’: Mom says ‘we may be missing our normal, but we are teaching empathy’
“This is the world I brought this miracle into. This should not be his first core memories. This should not be my 2-year-old’s life. He should be waving at strangers in the aisle, hugging other children in the toy section. And yet, this photo makes me extremely proud. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
How A McDonald’s Employee Made Me See The Good In The World
“If we had more Wyatt’s in this world, can you imagine how much better we would be?!”
‘His stomach was swelling. ‘If I don’t make it, I need you to promise me you’ll remarry. We’re not meant to do life by ourselves.’: Woman urges ‘each day is a gift’ after losing husband to Stage IV Stomach Cancer
“‘It’s terminal. No cure. He has 6 months left.’ He grabbed me by the hand and asked if he could have one last dance with me. We slow danced in the middle of his hospital room as the monitors beeped in the background. He was withering away. Don’t wait to take the trip, don’t wait to say I’m sorry. Each day is a gift.”
‘You’re purposely starving your unborn child by not eating.’ My husband wasn’t allowed in the room for ultrasounds.’: Mom births baby with Down syndrome after hospital malpractice, ‘He is more loved because, not despite, his diagnosis’
“The pediatrician was super blunt. ‘No, you are mistaken. You’ve confused us with a different baby.’ Nobody noticed it on the million ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy. I watched my husband and 1-day-old baby taken away from me in an ambulance and all I could do was stare.”
‘I’ve seen so many people leave the church because they could no longer handle being treated less than in the place that was supposed to be their rest.’: Woman talks religious double standard
“I’m sorry for the religion that shamed you, scolded you, judged you, and knocked you down. But that wasn’t Jesus.”
‘I’ll have you pregnant in no time!’ I held my breath at the ultrasound. I’ll never forget the panic in their eyes.’: Mom births rainbow baby after losing son in utero, ‘Never stop fighting’
“The name of the contest was ‘Mojo Gives You a Baby.’ You won a free round of IVF. We decided to go for it. It was our miracle! We decided to try for a sibling.”
‘The nurse came in. ‘Her new parents are ready for her.’ Only 15, I kissed her cheek and placed her into the arms of her mama.’: Teen mom embarks on ‘beautiful’ open adoption journey, ‘I couldn’t have picked better parents’
“I hid my pregnancy for 7 months. I should’ve been picking the perfect dress for Winter Ball. Instead, I was writing a birth plan. Once my sobs slowed, I looked at her birth father and said, ‘Those are the people who will raise our baby girl.’ I wavered. I fought. I broke. But in the end, I knew what I needed to do.”
Passengers Kicked Off Flight After Toddler Refuses To Keep On Mask
“I begged him, bribed him, and pleaded with him, feeling my absolute lowest of lows as a mother.”
‘I took a test, saw a line. ‘What’s ONE more?’ he laughed. I already had 3 under 3.’: Couple surprised by pregnancy while adopting brothers, ‘It’s exactly what I dreamed’
“’Meet your son.’ Weeks later, we brought number 3 home. I noticed I was having mood swings. I joked to my girlfriends on a group text, ‘I‘m probably pregnant.’”
‘Can you tell me how we’re related?’ Then she said, ‘I am your mom.’ My heart was beating so fast it almost popped out of my chest.’: Woman reunites with biological mom, ‘I’m excited to build a relationship with this sweet, intelligent woman’
“We embraced each other. ‘I look like you,’ I said with watery eyes. In 1996, pregnant in her early 20s with already two kids, she wrapped me in a towel and called the police to tell them where I was. ‘I forgive you.’ I tried my hardest to keep my tears in. I knew if I let one fall, the rest would not stop.”
‘No, you can’t play with us.’ I never would’ve dreamed my 6-year-old would already shed this many tears. She just wants to fit in.’: Mom teaches daughter ‘self-worth’ in wake of bullying
“Just like my mother taught me, I told her to kill them with kindness. But after a particular pair of older girls, who frankly know better, continued to be rude and exclude my daughter, I had to have a difficult talk with her.”
‘You watch him in pain and feel the energy. Sometimes you feel robbed. This shouldn’t fall on your shoulders.’: Woman with special needs brother says ‘he taught me to be selfless’
“Every birthday, when I blow out my candles, I use my one wish to wish my sibling could be able to walk and talk.”
Vulnerability Is A Gift—Little Boys Don’t Need To Toughen Up
“Little boys don’t need to toughen up, they need to be nurtured.”
‘I jostled awake to the sensation of the couch moving. ‘PLEASE!!’ His eyes rolled back. I watched as Kenny’s body flailed uncontrollably.’: Woman finds love after losing husband to cancer
“My sobbing husband pulled me close and choked out, ‘Don’t EVER let me be a vegetable. Do you hear me???’ The weight of his words shattered my shock. My face crumbled. ‘It’s recommended you never procreate again.’ We’d accidentally gotten pregnant the last month it would ever be possible.”
‘Days after my surgery, we got the call. The birth mother was also pregnant. ‘Start straightening the house!’: After ‘painful’ infertility journey, couple foster 3 siblings
“‘All fixed up! You’ll be pregnant in 4 months tops!’ I was taking medicines, arguing with my husband. Our hearts were breaking. Coming off the infertility rollercoaster, God told me it was time to change our plans. ‘The birth mother is also pregnant.'”
‘I’m going to die young.’ I was drunk the day I took my SATs. I’d go days without eating.’: Single mom overcomes addiction, ‘I wanted to see my daughter grow up’
“While my friends were dreaming about their future careers, I was dreaming about booze. I’d carve words into my legs just to feel something. And then I got pregnant. The only thing I wanted for this child is to not feel how I felt.”
‘Your to-do list will keep growing. The emails will continue to flood in. The texts will sit unanswered.’: Mom urges ‘everything else can wait, you only get one chance to raise your kids’
“But your children, they grow right before your eyes. Their tiny voices change overnight. Their giggles and tears start and end with you…until they don’t. Everything else can wait. Parenting is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
‘I asked my parents, ‘Why am I not like all the other kids?’ to which they replied, ‘That’s just how God made you.’: Young woman with Spinal Muscular Atrophy pursues career, ‘I found a way to make life happen!’
“I’d sit on the sidelines during PE while my peers played and had the time of their lives. I felt envy toward able-bodied children. I was that awkward girl in a wheelchair who didn’t know anybody. I didn’t fit in. One morning, I awoke to muscle loss in my hands. ‘But how will I create my art?!’ I had to find a way to make life happen.”
‘How can you waste the best years of your life fostering children?’ People questioned if I’d find a husband.’: Single foster mom says ‘these children are worth it’
“This sweet little 3-year-old also had a 2-year-old sister. They were looking to have them adopted together. ‘How could I adopt just ONE?’ I decided to drown out the noise of others.”
‘Breast is better,’ they said. I cried for days, unable to feed you. I heard I could never feel that connection with you because I didn’t nurse you.’: Mom shares emotional breastfeeding struggle
“I don’t know about letdown or leaking when a baby cries. I don’t know about raw or chapped nipples. I don’t have battle scars or badges of honor that are inscribed with, ‘Breastfed my baby until 2.’ None of it. But tell me, my sweet baby, did I love you any less?”
‘Dear husband—I love you, but I don’t like you. Not all the time.’: Woman pens appreciation letter to husband, ‘I love you even in those I-don’t-like-you moments’
“I just hope you know how grateful I am for you even when I’m tired, worn down, and I don’t show it. Most of all, I hope you know I love you big even in those I-don’t-like-you moments.”
‘If I focus on my kids, my work suffers. If I shift my focus to work, my mom-guilt wrenches my stomach.’: 5 Ways To Get The Joy Of Motherhood Back During Pandemic
“My family had a good thing going pre-COVID. Now, our lives have been thrown into a figurative blender and turned on with the lid off. No one can feel stable wiping a kid’s butt when you’re on a conference call while the pasta is boiling over.”