“I needed someone to tell in case I went ‘missing.’ Our house was in the middle of a hill, covered by woods. ‘Mom, please come.’ With the highest anxiety I’d ever felt in my life, I slowly closed the door. This was it. My goodbye after 13 years. My kids smiled in the backseat, oblivious. ‘Go!’ I turned off my location and watched in the mirror as we drove away.”
‘FREEZE. DON’T MOVE,’ I whispered. This was it. He knew I was escaping. The music stopped. ‘Run, run now!’: Woman escapes abusive relationship, re-marries, ‘I am now loving every waking moment on earth’
‘Mom, why wasn’t Ryan in school today?’ He kept looking for him, but Ryan was getting ready for his angel wings.’: 10-year-old boy loses best friend to Ewing’s sarcoma, starts foundation to teach cancer patients to fish
“When my son’s best friend passed from cancer, he said, ‘Mom, he spent so much time in the hospital that he didn’t get the chance to be a kid. He didn’t even get to go fishing!’ You see, Jake’s passion is fishing. He’s been doing it since he was 5 and it’s grown to be his absolute favorite activity. ‘Mom, kids fighting cancer should get to fish!’ I told him he should do something about that, and so he did. Ryan made my son feel like he belonged. He wanted to do for cancer patients what Ryan did for him.”
‘I hear it a lot. Stay-at-home mothers feeling guilty for spending ‘their HUSBAND’S’ money.’: Mom implores working partners to treat stay-at-home spouse as equal
“I’ve heard stay-at-home mothers ask to buy something like they are 15 years old again! Asking for $10 to buy a bra. It’s no longer ours, it’s HIS money. And if he wants to buy $400 shoes, well he can, because he worked.”
‘I LOVE MY IPAD, MOMMY. I HATE YOU!’ My beautiful child was ugly crying, swinging arms, red faced. He threw his belly to the ground. ‘WHY MOMMY?!’ All hell broke loose.’
“His little body leaped off the ground and dove for the iPad in my lap. In between hiccups, coughs, deep gasps, he said, ‘MOMMY… I… NEED… IT.’ I replied a stern, ‘No, baby. You do NOT need it.’ Then, mommy did the unthinkable. ‘We’re going on an adventure.'”
‘Oh, God. This has to be a dream. Not MY Mick.’ They were only going to the race track. A 3-hour drive from home. Their horse was racing, and then they were supposed to come back.’
“Then it dawned on me. Is this what Mick meant when he said to me, ‘Under no circumstances can I change my plans on Saturday and take Chloe to basketball.’ I can’t believe I never questioned him on that; it was very unusual for him not to go and watch her play.”
‘When I was 15, I was sent to a private boarding facility in the backwoods. I snuck out was roaming during the night. I was suddenly taken into a building far in the woods, the doors locking behind me.’
“For the next 2 years, I was ‘locked up’ with wire fences, an open bay dorm of girls in dresses. I was to say yes ma’am and no sir. Everything was taken from me. Our letters were censored. Girls who would cry would be forced to sit in a baby stool with a pacifier.”
‘This man rolled up in his truck.‘What’s going on with your car? Didn’t your dad ever teach you how to check your fluids?’ I responded, ‘No. I don’t have one of those.’
“He spent over an hour with me. He would say, ‘Okay, now it’s your turn – show me,’ and then he would say things like, ‘Look at you! You’re doing a great job!’ I drove away thinking, ‘How cool would it be if he was my dad…?’”
‘I had jealousy and hatred for my husband. I imagined him enjoying his 40-minute commute, sipping his hot coffee at his desk, and having adult chats NOT about the color of poo.’
“You’re used to being a high-flying businesswoman, and now you’re sitting on the floor with a load of people who all seem to know the words to ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep!’ I was bloody mad!”
‘Miss, I have your father’s autopsy results,’ the coroner said. ‘He felt absolutely nothing.’ I quickly asked, ‘It wasn’t an overdose?!’ ‘No drugs were detected, ma’am.’ I cried hysterically.’
“‘We can’t reach him,’ he said. My grandpa was at my dad’s apartment trying to get in. Police arrived. ‘Do we have permission to break in?’ The officer kicked the door down. ‘Dad!,’ my sister screamed. A police officer held our grandpa back. ‘Dana wake him up, get him up!’ All she could say was, ‘Grandpa, I am so sorry.'”
‘I was 22 and wanted to feel feminine. My husband said breast implants would help ‘spice things up.’: Woman removes implants after plagued by Breast Implant Illness, ‘Removing them gave me the confidence I lacked for years’
“No one could figure out what was wrong me. My hair was falling out in chunks, my joints were swollen, and I could no longer form complete sentences. Once I decided my implants could be poisoning me, I made the decision to get them taken out. ‘You’re going to be unhappy after removing them,’ my surgeon told me. I walked out and I knew he was not the guy for the job.”
‘I don’t want to live with a liar.’ I told him, ‘It’s up to you to figure out how to save this marriage now if you still want it.’: Woman strives to save marriage despite affair
“‘I am all in this marriage, I want you, I choose you,’ he said. It has been 8 months now since I found out my husband had an affair.”
‘Mom, I’m in so much pain.’ 5 days later, she spiked a fever. A lightbulb went off.’: 16-year-old girl embraces ‘beautiful’ bald head during battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma
“We treated her with ibuprofen, heat, and ice. It seemed to ease it some. The next morning when she got up, she was in a tremendous amount of pain. It was followed by a week of unending pain. ‘Why my baby?’ All I wanted to do was hold her and sob.”
‘At 17, two pink lines changed everything. While my friends were out partying, I sat in a rocking chair and cried.’: Disabled teen mom doesn’t want others to ‘feel sorry for her,’ reminds us to ‘show compassion’
“‘You’re definitely pregnant and probably farther along than me!’ I was completely overwhelmed. It wasn’t about me, it wasn’t just my life anymore. It was about this little baby growing. I was a mess, a completely reckless teenager. Sometime after getting put on probation, totaling my car, and losing credit from skipping school, I decided I needed a change. I was focused on giving her the life I never had.”
All Postpartum Body Types Are Beautiful
“‘Not losing the weight is a choice.’ Just a small sample of the comments we’ve received since we first posted this photo. It’s a shame.”
‘If people had hearts like dogs, we would be better humans.’
“We would take up space without guilt. We would love our people unconditionally. We would find and fill empty spaces in rooms and hearts. We would offer up nonjudgmental support.”
‘Stop wasting so much time looking perfect. Stop wishing you were someone else. Stop crying those tears over the group that doesn’t want you.’
“Stop allowing other people’s opinions to blow you back and forth like a leaf in the wind. Stop thinking you’re not pretty enough. Stop thinking a boy will solve all your problems. Stop thinking invitations from the cool kids will make you feel complete.”
‘Passenger 2C stomped onto the plane. He should have worn a sign that read, ‘Do you know who I am?’ Did you really have to throw your foot on the armchair? Darn. So sorry.’: Wife later realizes she was so angry with man on plane because of dying husband
“I have finally figured out why I was so mad at him, and why my heart was so full of hate. Passenger 2C, I’m sorry I said mean things. If I hadn’t been making fun of you, I would have doubled over in my seat sobbing.”
‘During a regular, boring trip to the grocery store at 26-weeks pregnant, I went into labor. We rushed to the hospital. The NICU doctor had to ‘speak with us.’ My heart broke all over again.’
“At first, my little ‘hobby’ was an outlet – a very private and personal one. We had recently endured the sudden loss of our son. It was noticed by friends – and friends of friends. I quickly realized there were so many mamas that understood.”
‘You’re an angel,’ he said to me after a night of being told I was worthless. The sun started to shine through the window, it reeked of booze and I had yet to sleep. I wanted to be that ‘angel.’
“My grandma passed away, and everything came crumbling down around me. I was alone. I needed him more than anything now. I needed his support, I needed him to hold me and listen to the speech I had prepared for her funeral. Instead, he did the exact opposite. ‘I need space,’ he said. SPACE?!”
‘I blacked out and collapsed. ‘We’re taking your baby,’ I heard someone say. I woke up not knowing where I was. I tried to tell them I was in pain, but couldn’t talk.’
“I saw nurses running back and forth. My parents waited for the helicopter to land. ‘They have to do surgery right now or she’ll die.’ My husband pulled over, went behind a building, and cried. ‘How am I going to raise 4 kids alone?!’ My oldest son was too scared to touch me. ‘I’m scared I’m going to hurt you, mama.’”
‘Garry!’ I yelled, grabbing his face. ‘Garry, wake up!’ I screamed at him. There was no response other than the awful snoring and shaking. I bolted across my yard to pound on my neighbor’s door.’
“I awoke with a startle. I’d only been asleep for an hour when a strange sound roused me. There it was again, coming from my husband’s side of the bed; a strange snoring sound, except it wasn’t snoring. Something wasn’t right. He was shaking. My babies were sleeping soundly in their beds.”
‘This is it.’ I took a deep breath, answered the phone, my heart racing. ‘She is heading to the hospital in labor now.’ We couldn’t believe it, OUR SON. That is what SHE called him.’
“‘You’re lucky you CAN’T have kids,’ a stressed out mother once told me. I was floored. I held my son for hours crying tears of joy. I remember telling my husband, ‘It’s all over. I feel like I can breathe again. This weight I carried for years has been lifted.’”
‘You’d be so much prettier if you lose some weight.’ I was only allowed to drink water. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.’: Woman finds confidence after lifetime of body shaming, ‘I set MY OWN beauty standards now’
“At 14 years old, I tried to end my life by downing a whole bottle of antidepressants. I dropped out of high school and was ‘promiscuous’ at every opportunity. The bullying was relentless. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and cry. When I went to the doctor to get my weight checked, she looked at me with disgust. ‘How did you get so big? Why are you so overweight? Your body is mostly fat!’ I was speechless. I couldn’t even look her in the eye.”
‘Why are you so hateful to yourself?’ ‘Oh, hell,’ I muttered before folding over in sobs. He wasn’t wrong. I am my own worst bully. The things I say to myself are plain awful.’
“Your daughter walks out the door with her prom date. What is on your mind as the two stroll hand in hand, down the sidewalk to the car? ‘Car crash.’ We respond, almost in unison. ‘Death.’ A little creepy, I admit.”
‘My sweet baby, my firstborn son, is homeless, mentally ill and addicted to heroin.’: Grieving mom urges others to break the stigma around addiction, ‘Don’t let us suffer alone’
“It had been 4 months since we’d had any contact. I hear someone calling my name. It’s my son! It’s a miracle. I hugged my sickly thin boy and told him, ‘I love you.’ I didn’t want to let go. I offered to buy him a meal. Our interaction was less than 10 minutes long. I left him there.”