‘I was attracted to you before you put on weight.’ It broke me. Now he’s dating a woman half my size and 15 years his junior.’: Woman works to be body positive after being fat-shamed, urges ‘You matter and you are enough’

“My doctor told me, ‘Your weight is why you lost your baby.’ I was destroyed. My weight was the reason my marriage ended and it was also the reason I miscarried. My ex-husband even went as far to accuse me of making up the entire pregnancy. I lost my love, my child, and myself that year.”

‘What will you tell your kids? They look trashy.’ I’ll tell them what my tattoos mean to me.’: After lupus diagnosis, sexual assault survivor uses to tattoos to ‘help me reclaim myself’

“Unsolicited, I have been ‘advised’ on my body art. I’ve been asked, in horror, ‘What will you tell your kids?’ I’ll tell them what my tattoos mean to me, and when they’re older, they can get tattoos if they want them. ‘You’re inviting people to judge you.’ Actually no, I’m not. ‘Can you get a job with those?’ Firstly, none of your business. Secondly, yes. Then there are the people who find my tattoos TOO appealing. ‘Where ELSE are you inked?’ ‘So, you like pain, huh?’ ‘Wanna see MY tattoo?’ Seriously, be less sleazy.”

‘A month before my wedding, I woke up unable to see 2 feet in front of me. I chalked it up to a fluke. I was so naive.’: Woman shares emotional battle with Uveitus, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to persevere’

“I woke up with blood-shot eyes. Everything was a blur. ‘This is going to go away. It can’t get worse.’ This is when my eyesight started to deteriorate. Here I was, 26 years old, a month before my dream wedding day. I had the most beautiful wedding dress, and desperately wanted to look good in my wedding photos. ‘How could this be happening to me?’ I was so angry at the world.”

‘My home isn’t special. We don’t have the high-priced items to entertain, or space for the masses. And yet, no one cares.’: Mom has ‘open home policy’ for friends and family, ‘It’s not about the place, but the people’

“I am not a good cook or a great hostess. I often wonder if I’m doing it all right. You’ll find me making bulk Mac and Cheese in gym shorts and t-shirts, un-showered or made up. The couch is sometimes dirty and it gets too crowded at times. And yet, no one cares. All anyone really needs is a heart that says, ‘Welcome, you’re important here.’ THAT is the gift you offer when you open up your home.”

‘When are you going to try again?’ I was still unable to wipe after going to the bathroom. My baby was being reduced to nothing but a ‘try.’: Couple births second daughter one year after first is stillborn, ‘I already WAS a mother’

“As my belly grew, I began being asked the ‘Is this your first?’ question by anyone, from the cashier at Target to the waitress while out for dinner. My answer was, ‘No, this is my second. My first child died.’ You could tell by the uncomfortable look on their faces that my response was always unexpected, met with pity and also toxic positivity. I already WAS a mother.”

‘I was incarcerated at age 12. I sold all my parents’ electronics and disappeared. By the end of the night, I injected heroin into my arm.’: Man beats life-long addiction, ‘My recovery is nothing but a miracle’

“I was on parole with a daughter on the way. I smoked it. I was so delusional I believed if I didn’t inject it, I wouldn’t become addicted. I was so numb to the world, digging myself into my misery with each high. One night, I was in a drug-induced haze and the most incredible thing happened. Brittany’s water broke. She was in labor.”

‘We would be thrilled!’ It was love at first sight. His pupils point in different directions. It’s given him an oddly-shaped head. We were immediately smitten’: Family adopts ‘incredible’ special needs kitty, Sheldon Thunderpaws

“’We are looking for a foster home for this quirky 5-week-old kitten.’ He had us wrapped around his little paw. We found out he was special needs and said, ‘We have to take care of him!’ It’s like watching a live interactive stuffed animal. Sheldon had bonded with us and we had bonded with him.”

‘This is easy, just wait until they’re older.’ I cried into her bib. I struggled to say ‘I love you’ to my baby. I shut down completely.’: Mom suffers postpartum depression, fights for help, ‘Every day is a battle, but I know I can win’

“I asked to be put on medication. My doctor said to me, ‘Are you sure it’s not just the pressure of Christmas?’ ‘NO!’ I wanted to scream, ‘This is why mothers don’t speak out. Because people belittle us. They tell us to cope.’ I was so angry. I accepted the prescription and left. I knew I needed to do something more than medication. I felt like the worst mom ever.”

‘I’ve been seeing a boy for a year.’ I wasn’t changing. My family was going to be disappointed. We are Catholic.’: Gay twin brothers come out to parents, ’We struggled with the fact we could lose family for being who we are.’

“‘Do you have any crushes on girls in your class?’ It was hard to get away with answering ‘no.’ I thought of sending myself to conversion therapy. We couldn’t understand why we weren’t sexually attracted to women. Having this picture embedded in our heads of a hyper-masculine culture messed us up. We knew sooner or later something, or someone, would have to give.”

‘I keep telling them to give up on you. I don’t know why they won’t listen.’ The officer grabbed my black and blue arms. I was a walking zombie.’: Former addict transforms her life, ‘I was never hopeless. I was never unworthy.’

“The electricity had been turned off. I was enrolled in Cosmetology school, but hadn’t gone in weeks. I was so tired. My grandparents were on vacation, so I thought I’d go to their house and shower. My intentions were good. I sat in their shower for what felt like an eternity. I remember each individual drop of water hitting my body as I cried out to die. I was fighting the demons, doomed to lose. I lost that day. I didn’t go to school. Instead, I stole $7,000 worth of jewelry from my grandmother.”

‘Just give her time. She’ll come around.’ My mom has yet to use my correct pronouns.’: Trans man finds courage to live his truth, ‘Transitioning was the biggest act of self-love’

“Everyone kept telling me I was a girl. When my mom would take me clothes shopping, I found myself cutting looks to the male section, wishing I could cross aisles and pick something I’d feel confident in. I struggled so much with trying to feel ‘pretty.’ Now, I miss being able to pick up the phone and just say ‘hi’ to my mom. Years pass, with little to no communication. I’ll always be her ‘daughter.’ No amount of hormones or surgeries will ever change that.”

‘What do I need to do to make it?’ I walked through those doors, standing at 315 pounds with a disability I hid. ‘Let’s give this a shot.’: Woman with Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome finds peace in chronic illness

“I was spending every day off work as a first responder on a recliner or in bed, surrounded by pain and fatigue. My disease was here to stay, after it had been silent for 12 years. I’ve always been hard-headed. ‘I will do it on my own.’ But when my health became something I could not hide anymore, I knew it was time to share it, despite the fear of what they may judge.”

‘I will never forgive you.’ We filed her as a missing person when she didn’t come home. I felt like I’d failed her.’: Mom shares candid reality of parenting a child with mental illness

“Our number one job as parents was to keep her safe, and we could no longer do that at home. There were rumors. I knew people were talking. Having a daughter with mental illness is not like having a child in the hospital with the flu or a broken bone. There were no lasagnas brought by concerned friends. No one knows what to say. It’s lonely and terrifying.”

‘It’s okay, baby, you can go.’ With tear-filled eyes, we held our little boy’s body as his soul went peacefully to Heaven to join his big brother.’: Parents lose newborn to Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia

“My stomach dropped. Katy, still recovering from childbirth, fell to her knees in shock. ‘We’ve done everything we could possibly do.’ It was and is still excruciating. ‘One day, you will be able to ask God why this happened. But when you’re able to ask God why, it won’t matter because you’ll be with your baby.’”

‘At least he doesn’t…’ As a special needs parent, I hear this all the time. Each one takes a little slice out of me.’: Special needs mom urges you to ‘validate’ those who ‘give you a glimpse of their challenges’

“I don’t let very many people into our lives, mostly because I’m spent. And one of the reasons is because of things like ‘at least.’ When you ‘at least’ me as a complex parent, I feel minimized. I feel unheard. I feel compared. If a person gives you a glimpse of their challenges, honor their experience. Validate them. Meet them where they are. And if you can’t think of anything else to say, ‘Can I get you coffee or tea?’ always works.”

‘I’m just tired.’ I didn’t press her about what was wrong. I let go a little. All their lives, we do this game of letting-go and holding-on.’: Mom of teen shares candid reality of having to ‘let go’ 

“The other day, my teen began college. I offered to help her find her classes. She turned me down, so I let her go a little. That morning, she wanted to get to school early, so I offered to pack her lunch. She took me up on that offer, so I held on a little. I told her goodbye at the door and reminded her to be careful, but let go a little and didn’t ask her to text me when she arrived. But I held on a little and made sure my phone volume was way up. All their lives, we let them go so they can find out who they can be, but hold on so they know we love who they already are.”

‘I regret this so much. I’ll never see my daughter again.’ My lips turned gray, my skin white. I faded out of consciousness.’: Woman urges ‘it will get better’ after survived suicide attempt, ‘Storms don’t last forever’

“I was always told, ‘You will never be anything.’ My family didn’t believe I was struggling. I was very good at hiding it. When it did show, they called it a ‘phase.’ I convinced myself no one would notice if I was dead. I had made my decision. Nobody could change my mind. In my bedroom, I wrote my goodbyes and I did it. I started going in and out of consciousness. I could see bright colors. My vision went blurry.”

‘Things weren’t adding up. ‘Have a nice life,’ I told my boyfriend. An hour later, I saw ‘RIP’ posted all over my feed. My heart started beating.’: Teen mom loses boyfriend in tragic car crash during pregnancy, ‘My son kept me going’

“I was 19 and pregnant with his baby. An hour after our argument, I scrolled down and saw a picture of a crashed car with the words ‘RIP.’ It was HIM. All of a sudden, my phone started ringing. People were calling, asking, ‘Is is true? He’s dead?’ I ran to the trash can to vomit. It felt like a horrible dream. I was waiting to wake up. I was so scared to be a teen single mom.”

‘A portion of her chromosome is missing.’ We had to prick her on the foot to get her conscious again.’: Mom of special needs twins, one with a chromosomal deficit, one autistic, says ‘I never imagined my journey as a mom would look this way’

“A few weeks later, we received the results. ‘Julius has a diagnosis of autism.’ I went from raising one special needs child to two. I learned quickly I would not be able to have typical ‘mom’ conversations with other new moms. I realized most things parents took for granted were not part of my journey.”