“A year after his transplant, Xander started throwing up. I rushed him to the E.R. because I thought he was facing organ rejection. The words were crippling. I wanted to grab the cancer with my bare hands and fight it to death.”
‘Xander may only have one or two years to live.’ We were completely blindsided. I’m not supposed to outlive my son.’: Mom feels ‘helpless’ through son’s heart transplant and liver cancer, ‘I can’t give up’
‘At 18 months old, his friend said, ‘BACKPACK!’ My son was 2 and not talking. I didn’t feel like I was doing a good job.’: Mom runs marathons for Autism awareness, ‘I’ve never been running this race alone’
“I decided, ‘I’ll give him till three to see if he starts saying more words.’ We were having more meltdowns and a difficult time consoling him. Meeting all his needs became tough. I didn’t have a ‘real’ diagnosis. I started to dig.”
‘It was like watching someone meet their soulmate. None of them knew when it would be their last time together.’: Mom says even ‘bare minimum’ back in classroom is a ‘game changer’
“They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. It was something truly special to watch.”
‘She was skinny and riddled with lice and worms. But there was something special about her. I met my soulmate.’: Woman shares unique friendship with chicken, ‘Til we meet again’
“I’ve held her while I’ve cried, and I’ve talked to her about my problems. She started spiraling quickly. She held onto my finger tightly as soft music played. The vet said, ‘There’s a risk, but I have to do this NOW.’”
‘I cannot gain weight. Forget it. I’d rather suffer. Aren’t people who take meds crazy?’’: Woman accepts anxiety medication; ‘I was back to being the mom my daughter knew’
“I saw a psychologist who said my anxiety was way too intense and all-consuming. I would weigh myself twice a day and ask people a million times, ‘Do I look fat?’ After a few weeks, the medication started to kick in. Unfortunately, the weight started to come on.”
‘I asked, ‘Do you trust me to raise our children?’ Loving them isn’t enough. It’s not the same as their dad’s understanding.’: Mom discusses challenges with mixed family, ‘I am their ally’
“Is love enough? Is it enough that I love them more than life? I’ve so desperately wanted the answer to be yes. As much as I can tell them it’s going to be okay, it’s not the same.”
‘My daughter cried over a man I allowed into her life. It was one of my lowest points. I trusted too easily.’: Widow shares grief journey and destructive relationship, ‘I am enough’
“He took everything he could, and walked away like we were nothing. He used my daughter to get closer to me. I no longer understood ‘normal.’ Life had to resume, because he said so. I was a widow.”
‘We ALWAYS stop at the toy aisle. People think I’m crazy, asking my 1-year-old if we should buy stuff. But I don’t care.’: Woman says daughter is her best friend, ‘It’s the greatest gift’
“We share lunches and cheers our drinks. We play everything, peek a boo, house, chase, and it’s the highlight of my day. I love waking up every morning, knowing she’s right next to me. I’m not ashamed to admit that she’s my best friend.”
‘Mom, I got 2 shirts! I look SO cool!’ It takes you back to that painful moment. You start to count the days.’: Foster mom describes journey, ‘It will make your head spin’
“I hear, ‘I would never be able to give a child back.’ It’s chaotic and heart wrenching. There are times you want your peaceful home back. Love isn’t always wanting what’s best for someone.”
‘There’s never a shame glance at the chocolate on the wall, or a pile of dishes. Somewhere out there is your band of weirdos.’: Mom thankful for her tribe says, ‘I can’t imagine it without you’
“I said, ‘Intentionally choose who has a seat at your table.’ I didn’t mean your dinner table; I meant the 9 p.m. ‘wine in hand’ crew. No one cares if there are toys on the floor. This crew isn’t here for that.“
‘My little girl asked, ‘Daddy, what’s a wawwy?’ ‘A rally?’ She nodded. I knew I wouldn’t be that kind of father.’: Gay dad of 3 multi-racial children teaches ‘our differences make us beautiful’
“Growing up in south Mississippi, I was able to easily see how my own father was the most racist and hateful person I had ever met. As I got older, he would call me sissy, mama’s boy, and queer. That was bad enough, but the things I can recall him saying towards black Americans were just as bad, if not worse.”
‘Another baby wasn’t worth losing my life. My hope of a large family wasn’t happening. ‘Do you want us to adopt you?’: Mom adopts family friend at 54, ‘We needed her to fulfill our family’
“Before we could blink, we had teenagers and a daughter in college. I know people in their forties adopt, but my husband was not on board. We met Rachel when she was five. She had a background of neglect and abuse. I officially became a new mama at 54.”
‘If something happens, how will he tell me?’ He shouldn’t be ignored. It feels like I’ve failed him.’: Mom of nonverbal, autistic son says ‘it is our job to listen’
“When the day comes you have to take a step back and realize, to others, your child’s speech is unintelligible, and it hurts. Then it hits you hard. Harder than you could imagine. But we can never give up.”
‘Let him take the nap and sleep in late on Saturday. He’s doing this for you and your family. Be proud of him.’: Wife grateful for hardworking husband, ‘one of the last of a dying breed’
“When I ask him how his day was, in which he always replies, ‘hot.’ I can tell by the look in his eyes, he’s exhausted. But, he will be playing with our kids and building new shelves for my classroom without a complaint. You know why? He loves us.”
‘I can’t be the reason your child got sick and died. It would ruin me. There is no EASY answer.’: Elementary speech and language pathologist shares why returning to school isn’t worth the risk
“I’m going to have to tell your kindergartners they can’t hold hands, even though we spend SO MUCH TIME teaching kids to be friends with each other. I’m going to have to tell that shy, little boy who reaches for my hand for some security, he can’t hold my hand.”
‘I slipped in the most dramatic fashion. All of us laughed. This wouldn’t have happened this time last year.’: Mom enjoys ‘beautiful moment’ after struggle to find right antidepressant
“There is no shame in needing help. None. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have been present. I would have wanted to leave.”
‘Lonnie said, ‘This is all for you.’ Now any time he sees a truck, he tells me about his buddy, Lonnie.’: Neighborhood in tears after recycling worker’s act of kindness for little boy
“‘I promise when this pandemic is over, I’m going to let you ride in my truck.’ I told Lonnie we were 2 weeks away from moving, and we were so disappointed. As we were hurrying down the hallway, we heard the truck beep the horn, and I knew they could only be honking for Charles. All the neighbors had huge smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes.”
‘This isn’t working! How can I sit here and justify how he acted?’ He thought he’d be seen as the enemy.’: Interracial couple discusses communication, ‘Don’t let things wedge you apart’
“I was expecting Connor to be more vocal. ‘Even if I had the opportunity to go to a protest I would become a target.’ It started to bug me. ‘You need to acknowledge your white, male privilege.”
‘He is too big to be carried around.’ The world thinks I’m babying him. Yet I’m afraid it’ll be the last time.’: Mom says she’ll be grateful for every ‘YES,’ despite what others may say
“I know judging gazes find us in the grocery store parking lot, as his head rests on my shoulder and his legs dangle well below my waist. ‘Will this be the last time?’ I will throw out my back if that’s what it takes.”
‘She’s the kid you see biting her parents. You think, ‘Thank god she’s not mine.’ I would not purchase again.’: Mom ‘salutes’ parents with ‘feral’ children
“When you tell her to stop running, she hears, ‘Run faster, knock down a shelf of sanitary pads, and bounce into someone with a drink spilling it all over them.’ I try, I do. She’s just the Blair witch.”
‘We ‘couldn’t handle’ being foster parents. We had just packed up our house and were moving in a week. ‘Do you have room for a placement?’: Family seeking adoption welcomes foster baby, ‘There is never a perfect time’
“We found out we were pregnant with our 4th child. We were very surprised! So many people tried to talk us out of renewing our license. I felt like I ‘couldn’t handle it.’ Then, we got a call. ‘Can you take him?’ I am willing to risk a broken heart.”
‘Go to bed mad sometimes. It WILL get boring. But continue to fight for each other.’: Woman pens list of important things to remember when you are married, ‘Love is never easy, but damn is it worth it’
“Don’t ever assume your partner feels loved.”
‘In my head I screamed, ‘No! No!’ You don’t know what it’s like to only be left with a bloody photo.’: Woman grieves infertility journey and tubal pregnancy loss, ‘I want people to feel less alone’
“I shouted, ‘No! That’s not an option. My baby HAS to be okay.’ While high on Oxycontin I realized why people become drug addicts. I went to bed not knowing if I’d wake up.”
‘He cried by the door. He was hoping we’d take him back. Our anxiety levels were through the roof.’’: Mom shares international adoption journey, ‘We can’t imagine life without them’
“It’s like meeting a movie star you’ve dreamed about. ‘Why aren’t we on a plane to see our son?’ Our flight was cancelled, causing us to miss the next two. We could miss our court date. We tried to prepare for the trauma looming ahead.”
‘My parents broke the news. ‘You were adopted at age 2.’ For the first time, I understood my parents had left me behind, forever.’: Adoptee overcomes addiction, ‘I needed to fall in love with myself again’
“I felt unloved. I tried to prove my worth and acted out to get attention from loved ones. At 14, I started experimenting with drugs. I continued on a rampage until I found heroin at age 15 with the help of an older boyfriend. ‘Please let me come home,’ I begged. I tried to stop many times. Then, one day, I found out I was pregnant. That little heartbeat was the sound of a chapter of my life closing forever.”