‘My mind tells me I shouldn’t fear you, but my heart says you’re new, unknown, un-treatable, and I read the news…so I fear.’: Mom shares open letter to the coronavirus

“Dear Coronavirus: You came into our world unannounced, with your bouncy body and your fluffy spikes, and you took over our lives. You see, I’m a mom and I worry. My mind tells me I can go on with my life and take my kids out like there is nothing to worry about, but my heart reminds me of all the guilt I’d feel if anything were to happen to them because of a choice I’d made. I still want to believe we haven’t lost the war against you yet.”

‘I was 19, pregnant. ‘Your baby is missing arms and legs. I’m only seeing 2 toes and a partial foot.’ I thought it was some cruel joke.’: Teen mom births baby with phocomelia, ‘He beat all the odds’

“Evan was whisked away immediately after birth. My stepmother grabbed my mother and left the room. Both were visibly shaken. I overheard them in the hall: ‘You’ve got to get it together. They need us now more than ever!’ The doctor entered. ‘Ms. Sanchez, there is a problem. Your son’s spine is severely twisted and growing out of the side of his back. If this continues, it will pull his ribcage into his heart and kill him.’ I was devastated.”

‘Marry the man who will take the screaming baby as soon as he gets home from a long day at work and tells you to go grab a latte.’: Woman urges ‘who you marry matters’

“The roses on the counter don’t mean a dang thing when your new baby has been inconsolably crying for three hours straight. When you haven’t left the house in a week, haven’t showered, and can’t remember the last time you brushed your teeth. Marry the man who hovers over your daughter at bath time every single night and prays over her sweet life.”

‘I swallowed my own tongue and went blue. One week into school, the bullying began. ‘Why should I be moved and not them?’: Teen with Treacher Collins Syndrome urges ‘we are all unique and amazing in every way’

“I was born with no ears, no cheekbones, and a receding jaw. Food and bottles were thrown at me. It got to the point where they would trip me and pin me up against walls. I used to come home from school every day crying, but still the school did nothing. Instead, they moved me to another class. ‘Why should I be moved and not them?’ The bullies took over my life.”

‘Please don’t straighten pillows or wipe down counters. Don’t make the beds, or a fancy appetizer. Your life isn’t too much for me.’: Woman pens touching letter to mom friends, ‘I’m so thankful for a friend like you’

“Before you go to your friend’s house for a play date, text her this: ‘I fully expect baskets of laundry, toys on the floor, and children in pjs. I anticipate all the kids will fight, be loud, and ask for snacks (constantly). I can handle that. Let’s warm up nuggets, put on a Disney movie, and do those dishes together. I’m so thankful for a friend like you.'”

‘Girl, are you crazy?’ I told the midwife I was having a baby on my own. ‘A child needs a mother AND father in their life.’: Single mom by choice births baby solo, ‘Every time I look at him, I see infinite love looking back’

“’I feel I’m destined to be without a partner. I’ve heard about women deciding to have children on their own, it’s something I may try.’ It broke my heart when I heard about conversations they had behind my back. ‘In order to grow up well rounded, a child needs a mother AND a father in their life.’ I struggled with those words for three years.”

“’I feel I’m destined to be without a partner. I’ve heard about women deciding to have children on their own, it’s something I may try.’ It broke my heart when I heard about conversations they had behind my back. ‘In order to grow up well rounded, a child needs a mother AND a father in their life.’ I struggled with those words for three years.”

‘I’m going to miss this. The dishes can wait, the laundry can wait. But those sweet little feet chasing us around, they’re getting a little bigger every day.’: Mom urges ‘don’t let the goodness of today pass you by’

“The look in his eyes when he sees me. The way he snuggles into position to fall asleep. The sound of his favorite word on repeat: ‘Ma-ma.’ Being his cushion, his happy place. I wouldn’t trade this for anything. I don’t ever want to forget how it feels to be his person.”

‘She’d text us, ‘I need more money.’ She saw me not as a woman to love her unborn child, but as a target. Our hearts and wallets were drained.’: Couple suffers adoption scam, ‘She broke us’

“She would make comments about finding a new family for her son if we didn’t give her the extra money, dangling her baby boy in front of us like a carrot. I truly lost my faith in humanity. She pretended to be a lot of things, but a decent human being was, by far, her greatest act. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.”

‘It took an overdose to come to the conclusion I was not the young woman I was raised to be. Suddenly, everything began to click.’: Transgender man advocates for support in the ‘addicted trans community’

“I threw heavy flower pots through the glass front door and begged the police officer to shoot me. Sadly, the beast that is addiction took over. As terrifying as it was to unearth such a deep truth about myself, suddenly everything began to click. I began to recognize why I couldn’t stay sober for even an hour. I was not the woman I was raised to be.”

‘Her eyes looked up at me in panic. ‘Mommy, it’s blood.’ We were just in the ER and everything said she was fine. My stomach about hit the floor.’: Family says goodbye to their ‘forever Valentine’ after battle with flu

“Around 6 a.m., I heard her crying by my bed. ‘Mommy, my head hurts, my throat hurts, and my chest hurts really bad.’ This child never cried. She was breathing weird and for a bit, I thought she was being dramatic. Then in her weak, sweet, little voice, she asked, ‘Mommy, am I going to die?’ Something wasn’t sitting right. Every few seconds, she would say, ‘Mommy’ or ‘Hello,’ just so I knew she was doing okay.”

‘Raising kids without my mother is much, much harder than I thought.’: Woman details parenthood after loss of mother, ‘It’s like driving without a GPS’

“‘Go ahead, I’ll watch the kids.’ The woman walks off, alone. She’ll be back soon, and anyway, her mother loves time with the grandkids. She’ll get a kick of watching the 3-year-old go up and down the tiny plastic slide. After the play space, they’ll do a little more shopping and grab lunch at the Food Court. Mostly, they’ll talk. It’s a common scene. But it makes a lump rise in my throat. I used to do this sort of thing, before my mom got too sick.”

‘Mommy, why was Charlie calling me Rich Boy?’ I want, more than anything, to give my children watermelon baskets.’: Mom teaches son ‘rich can mean many different things’

“The other day one of my son’s friends, who has been spending a lot of time at our house, called him ‘Rich Boy.’ At the time, my son really didn’t have much to say about it, but at bedtime something was on his mind that he needed help sorting out. ‘Mommy, why was Charlie calling me Rich Boy?’ ​I felt tears begin to sting my eyes and clenched my toes to will them back into place.”

‘I gave an ultimatum. ‘Get help or I need a divorce.’ Something jolted me awake at 1 a.m. The door to the gun safe was open.’: Widow finds forgiveness after husband’s suicide, ‘I meet his memory with sympathy’

“As soon as I woke, I immediately went looking for my husband. I don’t know how, but I knew something was terribly wrong. I searched room-by-room and when I got to the office, I saw it. A note on the desk. I remember screaming in my backyard, crying to the 911 operator. ‘Can you tell me about his erratic behavior?’ I watched the blood on my hands go down the sink as I tried my best to answer questions. Guilt washed over me.”

‘I hopped in the driver’s seat instead of letting him drive. I gently pressed the gas pedal, no one in sight. Then everything went…silent.’: After car accident with son, mom says ‘don’t let the ‘wrappers’ in life get in the way’

“We jumped in the car to run some evening errands. ‘Stay there. We are sending help,’ she said urgently. The thing that defined our relationship was snack wrappers. It’s embarrassing to admit how much of our daily interaction revolved around me telling him to, ‘pick them up!’ It is always the unimportant decisions that change lives.”