“He was on his knees at his wife’s bedside. Like a ton of bricks, it all caught up with him. He deflected his own grief to make sure everybody else was okay. But we all knew that deep down, this was tearing him up.”
‘Her 17-minute life was filled with nothing but love. Dads, you are allowed to cry, too.’: Couple shares ‘life-shattering’ moments their preemie daughter is born, dies in their arms
‘I have a lot more respect for you now, mom.’ ‘My daughter turned to me and spoke the words I’d been waiting my entire life to hear!’: Mom explains why the ‘teenager years’ are her favorite stage yet
“I had to hide my youthful giddiness and play it cool. The older, wiser mom will tell you the toddler years are the best of all. That in the blink of an eye, our kids will be mini-adults and the days of cuddles and air-blown kisses will be gone. NO ONE tells you the cool things that happen.”
‘We need to pray for Stephanie. I heard her marriage is on the rocks.’ : New mom deceived by ‘cunning, smart’ women who leaked her husband’s heart condition to public in ‘gossipy’ way
“I graduated from high school eons ago, and survived the sorority cliques of my college years, so I assumed that meant I was in the clear from cattiness. But a few months into new motherhood, I learned the hard reality that mean girls still exist—they just become mommies too.”
‘I made friends with Ben. He was good looking, had a job, a wife. He looked like he had it all, but Ben tried to commit suicide.’: Woman urges that depression is not just ‘a woman’s problem’
“Ben told me his wife went behind his back and called health professionals. She told his doctor, she let his boss know, she spoke to his family and friends. At first, he was angry with her, but with tears in his eyes he looked at me and said, ‘She went behind my back, but she saved my life.’ And she did.”
‘We kicked off our married life with a light-hearted disagreement about how to decorate our home. Until I realized we weren’t joking.’ Woman compromises with husband, realizes ‘family, not décor’ makes her house a home
“My husband returned from a big deer hunting trip. We engaged in playful banter about where this big ol’ buck would hang. He proudly pointed to the living room wall. I kindly suggested how great it’d look in the garage. Did he really want a deer head in the living room?!?! When the taxidermist called to say it was ready, I had to stop and ask if we were still joking.”
‘To my child who gets dragged from place to place because of your siblings, I have guilt. We go to THEIR play spaces, sports, summer camp pickups. And you are constantly waiting.’: Mom apologizes to her ‘drag-along child’
“You wait as I get your siblings ready for the day. You wait as I break up their fights. You wait as I load them into the car, in tears of frustration because you need me, but I need to get them somewhere by a certain time. I don’t get enough chances to take all of you in, to enjoy your coos and smiles. You don’t have all of me.”
‘My brother molested me as a teenager. Later in life, he became a youth pastor.’: Woman’s harrowing journey overcoming sexual abuse, brother’s resignation from church
“I finally mustered up the courage to tell my friend. She and her husband worked with my brother in the youth group. ‘I have to tell you, I’m not surprised by this.’ She said she had seen red flags and strange behavior from my brother and always thought there was something off. Eventually, he confessed.”
‘I mentioned I had dated men of different ethnic backgrounds. He lost it, screaming, yelling, cursing.’: Woman leaves abusive relationship after being ‘berated’ for how she ‘shouldn’t date outside my race’
“I quietly packed my bag in the morning as he was sleeping. I ran out of that house like I’d never see freedom again and jumped in my car. I remember shaking the whole way to work, terrified he was following me. I never looked back.”
‘Why is Mami in the hospital?’ She’d turn manic. It was like walking on eggshells.’: Young woman recounts growing up with mom battling bipolar disorder, ‘days without sleeping’
“I always knew there was something wrong. ‘I’m not sick, I don’t need to take medication.’ It would intensify. I had so many questions. Why wasn’t she like other moms? Why were there times she wasn’t there? Why did she sleep so much? Why did her emotions change so drastically? All the built-up emotions from my childhood hit me like a ton of bricks.”
‘Hopefully she’ll gain some independence. BUT, but if she doesn’t, she’ll just live with us.’: Parents of daughter with special needs realize they ‘don’t talk about her future’ because it makes it ‘more real’
“We may never grow to be empty-nesters. The words nonchalantly slipped from his lips, but they hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve never heard him say that. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever said it out loud.”
‘We have to deliver this baby immediately.’ Everything went black.’: Single mom goes unconscious during birth, wakes up to ask, ‘Who is this baby?,’ after life-threatening HELLP syndrome diagnosis
“I didn’t realize until that moment that something was terribly wrong. My OB came into the delivery room and sat next to me. ‘I promise you; everything is going to be okay.’ The next morning, I looked over and saw him in the bassinet beside me. ‘Who is this baby? Where did he come from? What happened?’”
‘One of the last texts he sent me read, ‘You are an absolutely wonderful wife.’ I lost the love of my life.’: Young wife ‘completely blindsided’ by husband’s death to addiction
“We slow-danced in our kitchen days before his death. He made me laugh, he made me smile. He made me feel whole. I am a 26 year old widow. I had no idea he had been using drugs.”
‘What, he’s sick of you already?’ My dad, my best bud, left. He allowed a younger woman to tear the family apart. He was no longer my dad. Instead, her husband.’: Woman overcomes childhood trauma, succeeds in school when ‘no longer under mother’s control’
“I realized at an early age that the only way I was going to escape was through education. I was accepted to every single college I had applied. She refused to provide them with her tax return so I could qualify for Financial Aid. I was crushed. But, I pushed forward.”
‘We were unpacking when I stumbled upon my old pregnancy test. Even after all these years, it’s still positive. My body was supposed to give my baby a safe home. Instead, it killed it.’ Woman claims it’s okay feel ‘anger, disgust’ with your body after pregnancy loss
“I felt a big lump in my throat. It was like looking at an old bouquet of flowers. Except, the flowers were dead, and the heartache still had this slight flowery aroma. I am part of a club. The club that no one wants to be part of, no one wants to discuss. I was called dramatic. I was told to get over it. But how could I? Your love for a baby is NOT defined by gestation age.”
‘I got a text from my son. ‘I’ve had Zeus for one whole night, and I’m already exhausted.’: Mom hilariously sits back and watches her son become a ‘dog dad,’ laughs at all his new ‘parenting’ responsibilities
“Who is Zeus, you ask? Great question, because I asked the same thing. Apparently, he has a dog. Not just any dog, but a Siberian Husky puppy. It’s cute and all, but if the dog is half as much work as my son was as a toddler, he’s totally screwed. In some ways, I want to warn him, but in others, my little black heart is smiling watching karma come full circle.”
‘There it was, staring me in the face. ‘Traits of a sociopath.’ I was not crazy.’: After years of lies, sex-addiction, cheating, woman leaves abusive husband, done pretending to be ‘a perfect family’ to the ‘outside world’
“On our honeymoon, we stopped for lunch. He sat down and looked me in the eye. ‘I have to go grab something,’ he said. There I was, 18 years old and 5 months pregnant, sitting in the Jack-in-the-box praying he would come back. I waited for hours, no sign of him. To this day, he’s kept where he went a secret.”
‘What’s wrong with your face? Fire? Car accident?!’ Complete STRANGERS asked. I reached my boiling point.’: Woman born with Nevus learns to ‘embrace’ her unique differences
“Kids were BRUTAL. I was called horrible things like ‘ugly face’ and told, ‘You don’t look normal.’ I kept the bullying at school a secret from my mother. I couldn’t handle it anymore. There was no internet; I thought I was the only one like this.”
‘The first time I fainted, I was 13. This time, I remember too clearly. My heartbeat felt like it was skipping. I started to sweat. My eyes went black.’: Woman finally diagnosed after fainting ‘hundreds of times’ with POTS
“The next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor with my mom and dad both overtop of me, staring at me with concerned expressions. When I faint, I lose consciousness, but the aftermath is always the worst part. I go into ‘autopilot mode’. I’ve ‘woken up,’ but I remember none of it. Everyone else would, though. They were always quick to tell their version of the story.”
‘She remembered the way they protected her. ‘THOSE ARE MY BROTHERS!’ she pointed across the courtroom, yelling proudly.’: 3 adopted brothers ecstatic to attend biological sister’s adoption day after ‘hopeless’ childhood
“My eyes immediately filled with tears, and I knew. I knew she remembered the way they fought to keep them alive. She remembered.”
‘Who wants a single mom with a deformed monster? NO ONE.’ Pregnant at 18, my abortion was the next day. A flip switched.’: Mom raises miracle son with missing limbs despite abusive partner’s pressure to terminate pregnancy
“Pregnant at 18, my abortion was the next day. A switch flipped.”
‘My stepdad locked me in a cellar. I was 3. My husband bought me diet pills for my birthday.’: Woman overcomes childhood abuse, addict husband to finally ‘get out of that darkness’
“He bought flowers, seemed to care. Then, he complained I had cellulite on our honeymoon. The church knew. According to them, a woman should ‘obey her husband.’ When girls don’t have a father figure, they’re not taught what to look for in a future spouse. My marriage was nothing like it seemed.”
‘Get him out! That’s Adam!’ He slipped off the ledge and tried to yell ‘Mommy!’: Mother shares ‘nightmare’ of 5-year-old son’s near-drowning in pool full of adults as warning for parents
“I watched as water and vomit poured out of his mouth, eyes swollen and rubbery looking. Then a miracle happened! He showed sign of life. ‘There he is!’ My baby was still with me! This was 100% preventable. This happened in a pool full of people. A pool full of ADULTS.”
‘Be baseball ready!,’ coaches yell. Each player squats down for 4 seconds before returning to shenanigans. Honestly his favorite part? ‘The snacks!’: Mom hilariously describes 5-year-old son’s ridiculous ‘zero attention span’ during T-ball
“For 20 minutes, these boys stand in the outfield waiting (hoping!) for a ball to get hit their way. Do you know what those boys are doing during that time? They’re looking at flowers growing in the grass. They’re kicking dirt around. They’re discussing the Paw Patrol episode where they save some big purple dinosaur. They give ZERO cares about the other team batting. Like, at all.”
‘I’d kill myself if I looked like you.’ Everywhere I went, I was the center of attention. I accepted that dying wouldn’t be such a bad thing.’: Man with venous malformation birthmark finds ‘happiness and confidence’
“My birthmark grew bigger and bigger. I got used to others pointing me out, whispering, laughing. Throughout my teenage tears, I avoided public places, family events. Any situation that involved people. I always put on a brave face, but in the background my confidence was constantly taking a hit. I couldn’t bring myself to face the world.”
‘I couldn’t focus on anything but this infant lying still in the bed. Stressed? Not the word.’: Nurse-in-training ‘overwhelmed’ by responsibilities, realizes keeping ‘peace’ is most important for the family
“Don’t let the baby lie in a wet diaper. Does she have a pulse? How many times does he breathe in a minute? Throw in 2 anxious parents trying to survive the scariest time of their lives, and 1 older sibling who needs Paw Patrol stickers ASAP, and you have a very long 12-hour shift. What else would I be responsible for? How about peace.”