“‘Hey Girl, what you up to?’ ‘That’s my cousin, I’ll introduce ya.’ She motioned him over. Jasper winked and walked back to the car. ‘Girl he is waaaay too old for you,’ she cautioned. ‘Age ain’t nothing but a number. I like the way he looks.’ I was smitten.”
‘Where is your boyfriend tonight?’ I answered, ‘I don’t have a boyfriend.’ He leaned over, kissed me.’: Woman reminisces on relationship with older man, ‘spinning’ from news of his death
‘Cooking isn’t just cooking. I know I make food appear like it hasn’t been a grueling process, but it is. Grueling.’: Mom fed up with making all the meals, ‘It drives us crazy’
“I’m battling Susan at Aldi because she has 4 items less than me and wants to go in front. It’s having eggplants thrown at me fast and hard by an angry check out assistant. If I make it too yellow will my 5-year-old have a hernia because it looks like it’s been touched by a vegetable?”
‘Oh my gosh, that’s a dong.’: Mom hilariously recounts memorable playground structure
“I can’t wait to see what my angelic 5-year-old is up to today. I open the album titled ‘recess’ and OH MY GOSH – There. She. Was. IN ALL HER GLORY. I immediately called my husband. WHO DESIGNED THIS PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT?! I am cryyyyiinnngg. This is not a drill. I repeat… this is NOT a drill.”
‘What do I wear to a job interview?’ ‘Am I overreacting?’ You get to ask your mom. I have to ask Google.’: Young woman loses mom to Stage 4 Cancer, ‘don’t take the little questions for granted’
“I find myself angry. Angry I am here asking a search engine stupid, little questions almost every one else in my life gets to talk to their mom about. I never realized how many things I would still need to ask, until the option wasn’t there anymore. The worst part? Every time, the grief hits me hard all over again.”
‘Scott, a 30-year-old picture of health, was on the Treadmill before work. The cleaning lady found him.’: Woman loses Border Patrol Agent husband to sudden heart attack, finds new partner who ‘allows me to love 2 men at the same time’
“‘There’s been an accident.’ Silence. My doorbell rang. 6 uniformed agents were at my front door. ‘Leave your daughter here, they will watch her, you need to come with me.’ I was hesitant, but sensed the urgency in their voices. No one knows how long he had been laying there. I froze. I kept thinking it was a joke. Scott was a huge prankster. I just kept hoping his eyes would open.”
I Lost My Hearing To An Infection, But Deafness Will Not Define Me
“People can be inconsiderate and make comments, but it is only because they don’t understand or they will choose not to. However, the choice is yours whether or not to take that as your identity.”
‘I was not a virgin. BUT I was in my own home. I took my rape and buried it. For 21 years.’: Teenager raped at her own party in high school says she was a ‘broken spirit,’ but learned to ‘survive, be strong’
“When I was 18, I threw a party at my house. I convinced my parents I was grown enough to stay home alone. Enter the sweaty keg in the living room that left a ring on the floor permanently. And the collection of teddy bears my mom kept in the living room drowned in the pool. It was devastating. That night I drank too much and let people I thought were friends, destroy parts of my childhood.”
‘I’ve never imagined myself with a white woman.’ I wasn’t offended, I was honored. He feels safe with me.’: Interracial couple form beautiful blended family
“An older black woman at my church said to me, ‘You two are healers…I can sense it. It is healing you both and it is healing the world.’ Kevin wasn’t the first black man I’d dated, but I was starting to hope he’d be the last.”
‘My son came home with a bite mark on his arm. Here’s what I did about it: Nothing.’: Mom is sick of placing blame, says ‘we’re on the same team, he’s fine’
“I signed an incident report which stated he didn’t even cry at the time. Do I need to be upset? Nah. I would’ve given anything to have just one mom look up at me and say, ‘I’ve been there too. It’s okay.’”
‘He said, ‘Hey, I have herpes. Did you give it to me?’ Just like that. I played my part of ‘perfect girlfriend.’: Woman urges others to ‘listen to that voice inside’ after finally leaving abusive relationship
“The day of the funeral came. I smiled when people asked, ‘When are you guys going to get married?’ I cringed at the thought. I checked his phone. Him: ‘My mom left me a lot of money.’ Her: ‘So?’ Him: ‘Now we can be together.’ Her: ‘What about HER (me), you’re lying.’ Him: ‘Let’s run away together.’ I woke him up and asked him, ‘What the hell is this?'”
You Never Know The Last Time You’ll See Your Loved Ones—Make The Most Of It
“Give thanks for the time you have with the ones you love most.”
‘It snapped me awake. What I thought was snoring, was actually the ‘death rattle.’: Woman remarries after high school sweetheart’s sudden death, creates big, blended family with new husband, ‘I love my husband’s ex-wife’
“I found myself breaking my set of rules with him right away. I never got in a car with someone. I went for a drive with him on the first date, to the middle of nowhere, to ‘look for owls.’ I told him to invite Meredith (his ex) over for Christmas morning. He was confused. I love my husband’s ex-wife.”
‘Well the doctor said I am crazier than him!’ Grandma exclaimed with a look I couldn’t quite place.’: Granddaughter learns important lesson in caring for elders, ‘I didn’t know it then. Everything ends.’
“4 months after I had the baby, Grandma passed away. My kids learned to honor the elderly. They learned to put someone else’s needs above their own. They soaked in the last possible days with people that spent a lifetime pouring into all of us. For that, I have no regrets.”
Why I’m Thankful For My Time As A Homeless Addict
“I’m thankful I was sleeping under that bridge then just as much as I’m thankful for having a big beautiful house to sleep in now.”
‘Mommy, why do you put on that makeup?’ Every day, I lie to my daughter.’: Mom avoids telling young daughter ‘real reasons’ for insecurities, ‘I won’t bring her down with my ugly truth’
“‘I put on makeup because I like to play with colors. You know, like you play with your art?’ For a second I wonder if that frown had given me away. But then, she’s jabbering on about the butterfly we finger painted yesterday. Thank God, I think. It worked.”
‘To the men giving their wives all they’ve got, it’s not enough.’: Wife urges ‘there’s not enough time’ for intimacy after daily chaos, ‘I get it, you’re tired’
“Truthfully, all you’ve got left to give at the end of a long workday is not a lot. I get it — you’re tired. Here is your wife, wanting all you’ve got left. And it’s just not enough.”
‘Tragically, she died by poisoning.’ Needless to say, I was aghast, horrified. ‘Holy cow, I’m so sorry.’: Woman recalls sarcastic husband’s morbid first date joke, ‘He was laughing so hard he was gasping for breath’
“We begin making more small talk. ‘You mentioned you’ve been married twice. What happened with your second wife?’ Manny sat straight up in his chair and looked me in the eye. ‘Well, sadly, she died as well…’ By now I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I could end up in the back of his trunk.’ Our server hands us our food. We just sat there across from each other in silence.”
‘Umm, I’m 32, DIVORCED WITH TWO KIDS.’ He said, ‘Yeah, we need your consent.’ ‘Yes, I CONSENT!’: Divorced single mom adopted at 32, ‘I wonder if they’re tired of me. I felt like it was too good to be true’
“I ran away from home. I was hiding in a stranger’s garage while my mom and police looked for me. I used a stranger’s phone to call The Pates. ‘I can’t go home, can you help me?’ I feared my mother. The next day she drove me to their house, dumped my belongings at the bottom of their driveway, and left. So, at the age of 32, I was adopted. I got a new birth certificate and everything.”
‘You’re sitting on something.’ I about died. I got engaged in the Costco parking lot.’: Woman recalls hilarious engagement story after first date at Costco
“We walked by the jewelry section. I spotted the prettiest emerald ring. Manny said, ‘nice stuff’. I said, ‘yes, the emerald is gorgeous.’ He said, ‘Thanks, we are just looking.’ I made a bee line over to the jewelry case to find the ring later. It wasn’t there. I couldn’t believe it. ‘I’m sorry, right as you left, another couple came by and bought it.’ I get in the car, not speaking to him.”
‘I remember blood all over the counter, a calm look on my mom’s face. At 13, she sent me to get bandages for her ‘accidental’ cut.’: Woman shares healing journey after mother’s suicide
“I’ve been to my mom’s grave twice. In 20 years. You won’t find a single photo of her in my home. I know this wasn’t her fault. It doesn’t change the effects her illnesses have had on me. None of it changes that her 60th birthday is not a birthday at all, because she is dead. I want to honor her, I really do. But I can’t face the woman who tried to break me.”
‘You are on vacation again?’ I feel like a fake. They don’t see I want to be anywhere but here’: Woman receives ‘reminder’ of faith in moment of struggle, ‘I was broken in shambles’
“Social media sees me on a Caribbean island right now, drinking fruity drinks, floating in the ocean. While everyone was still waking up, I walked the beach. I was angry. I need more answers than that! Moments later, I found a beat-up dime floating in the ocean. I cried painful tears. ‘This is what I am doing to you.'”
‘How can you allow a dead baby to stay inside you?’ ‘Because it’s my baby.’ I’m keeping her safe.’: Mom suffers multiple miscarriages, loss of twin, says ‘to me, every child matters’
“We rushed to the doctor. I was sadly met with little concern. ‘There is nothing we can do. Let nature take its course, what will be, will be!’ I chose the natural route. I wanted to keep her with me for as long as possible. A scan showed the baby had grown further, but her heart remained still. ‘No Zoe, sadly your baby hasn’t miraculously come back to life. Yes, we know you had hoped it would happen.’”
‘How is this real?!’ A baby fell into the toilet. I heard a loud, ‘Whaaa!’ I was 37, ‘infertile,’ and absolutely terrified.’: Mom unexpectedly births baby in toilet after battling PCOS, infertility for 13 years
“My partner and I had been together 13 years. No matter how badly I wanted it, I couldn’t get pregnant. I kept thinking when the time is right, my body would let me know. One day, I started bleeding and assumed I got my period. I went to the bathroom. This time, I felt pressure. I put my hand down and felt a head! ‘Call 911!’ Everything was a blur. I pushed again and a placenta fell into my hand. I was absolutely in shock.”
After 21 Years, Sisters Reunite With First Responders Who Saved Them From Deadly House Fire
“We finally got to meet our heroes from that night.”
‘I don’t want to be sick. I hope I just go to sleep and wake up in heaven.’: Woman thanks husband’s family for sharing ‘spunky’ Nana with her after losing father to suicide
“I started dating Matt, my future husband, and quickly learned he lived with his grandmother. I didn’t want Nana to think less of me. But several months into our relationship, she bought new sheets and extra pillows for Matt’s bed — point taken!”