“He bugged my bedroom to be able to hear everything I did, and every conversation I had. Eventually, he convinced me to move in with him. ‘I don’t want to lie to him.’ I would apologize with tears flowing down my face.”
‘Who the f*ck are you sneaking around with?,’ he screamed. Before I could answer, he threw the phone at my head. I had to hide my eyes from my son. ‘I can’t let him see me like this.’
The Moment I Realized My ‘Soul Mate’ Was A Narcissist Incapable Of Love
“Love shouldn’t hurt.”
‘I rushed to the hospital. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ the surgeon said. Our pregnancy checkup had gone well. There was never a reason to believe something was wrong. Our excitement turned to disbelief.’
“Her skin was pulled so tightly that her eyelids had flipped inside out. We were informed her limbs could suddenly detach on their own. Every day, we faced a new challenge.”
‘My friends invited me for a weekend getaway. I got a few itchy bites. ‘Are you pregnant?’ ‘Maybe it’s bacterial?’ This was a disease I had never heard of. There is NO cure for it.’
“I assumed it was the flu. I drank plenty of fluids and stayed in bed. But I wasn’t getting better. I had shooting pains all the way up my spine, as if someone was sawing me open. I went back to the doctor. ‘I think it’s food poisoning.’ ‘Maybe cancer.’ ‘HIV.’ ‘Is it possible you’re pregnant?’ No.”
‘He let out a wail. They received a report of suspicious bruising. Who is going to believe me? I took the boys out to do what we’d always done, now it’s going to cost us.’
“It was midweek when I received a voicemail from the Office of Child Protective Services, obligated to investigate possible abuse. What’s going to happen when a judge has to decide on custody in the divorce?”
‘So how many do you think?,’ I asked him. He thought there was only going to be 1. There were 4. ‘ARE YOU SERIOUS?!’
“I promised my husband I wouldn’t joke when I called him. As I laid on the table, the doctor looked at me and said, ‘Well Britt, we didn’t plan for this. THERE’S FOUR!’ We were going to be parents to quadruplets!!! Now came the fun part – I had to call Ryan.”
‘When our daughter was six months old, two black women approached us. One said, ‘Your baby’s hair is dry.’ I was taken aback, offended and embarrassed.’: Woman’s comment in Target helps mom provide for mixed-race children
“Around that same time, my husband and I sought a mentor for our daughters, realizing we, as white people, were not qualified to help our kids navigate certain situations.”
‘She lost her daddy to suicide a year ago. She watches TV, and then asks why movie characters can die and then be OK again. ‘Can daddy be OK again?’
“She tells anyone who she meets that her daddy died and is a star now. Even strangers. They look afraid to respond; sad for not knowing how to ease this little girl’s pain, and embarrassed how forthcoming she is with such delicate information.”
‘My son was told, ‘You can’t read. Don’t even try.’ Waves of emotion rolled through me. I walked out of the parent-teacher conference in tears.’
“His teacher handed me a big stack of unfinished classwork. ‘He is not working and he daydreams all day.’ After two days of observing our son, the doctor gave us the news.”
‘Nurses told me to, ‘Not be so dramatic.’ I tried to get help from teachers, police officers, neighbors. Nobody listened.’: Woman survives abuse, finally receives proper mental illness treatment at 36
“By 27 years old we had 2 beautiful boys and a baby girl. We were married, living well and happy. I was baking cupcakes and going on field trips – I was exactly who I thought I should be. Then it happened.”
‘It was midnight and everyone was asleep. I texted my friend, ‘Come quick! I need you. Lots of blood.’ I prayed she’d wake to the sound of her phone.’
“On a whim, I decided to download a dating app. I came across a man who was in the Army. I knew he was ‘the one’ the moment I saw his photo. At first sight, I was in love. Something I had never felt before.”
‘You’re going to have to get off Facebook, the sadness is overwhelming and it’s time for you to take a break.’ My heart broke every day. It was way too close to home.’
“‘Bridgette is going to need more than a lemonade stand, we need to do something to make her smile and raise money.’ She pointed to one of the dresses and said ‘Mom these dresses are beautiful, maybe the lady who makes these can make mine?’ I looked up the designers and with a hopeful heart we reached out.”
‘Take your pants off.’ I took a deep breath and headed back. As I lay on the medical table, half naked, all I could hear was my heartbeat.’: LGBT couple embark on IUI journey, ‘our little one came into the world fast and furious’
“Around 11:30 a.m. I awoke with an immediate urge to poop. ‘Wait! I am 29 years old. I won’t poop my pants. That’s ridiculous.’ I started moaning. I could feel it in my bones — I knew I was close. And still no midwife. She asked me if I wanted to push. ‘YES!’ I cried out.”
‘She was born with her umbilical chord around her neck, her face blue from lack of oxygen. She came into the world feet first. She always goes about things her own way, birth was no exception.’
“I had no idea what was happening, but I knew my mom was behind a cold, closed door that I wasn’t allowed to go through. I wish I could’ve held her hand – she needed it.”
‘I was scouring for baby clothes, 8 months pregnant. That’s when I saw him. At 6’2, he’s hard to miss. His features were different, but it was him.’: Woman’s realization after running into ex who ‘walked out on her’ in store, ‘you will love again’
“He and his girlfriend were doing the same as me. She was about to pop, due any day. I often thought about what would happen in that moment. The moment I saw him in his new life. He had walked out on me 8 years prior.”
‘WHAT DID I JUST SIGN MYSELF UP FOR?’ I made a mistake saying I could foster by myself. What was I thinking?’: Single mom shares foster care adoption journey
“I was at the gym when I got the call. He was a biracial 14-month-old boy. ‘He can’t walk or talk. Are you interested in taking him in?’ I could have easily said no. About 45 minutes later, the investigator dropped him off at my house. Neither of us knew we had just met our forever family.”
‘I married the man of my dreams, created a family, and realized after 9 years we weren’t able to pray the gay away.’: Couple divorce and become best friends, ‘Our lives drastically changed in the most beautiful way’
“He pulled me aside and told me he ‘struggled’ with homosexuality. My response: ‘Wow, you’re going to need a really strong wife!’ For the very first time, Kyle actually said out loud, ‘I am a gay man and I want to be with a man.’”
‘Oh my God!,’ I gasped as I frantically pawed at my hair, as if I could find those absent hairs hiding just out of sight. ‘How long has it been like this?!’
“I quickly showered and washed my hair the morning of our first son’s baptism. We were running late, so I grabbed a brush and hair tie and resolved to do my hair in the car. I flipped down the visor. My eyes caught, to my horror, a glimpse of my new hairline. I shrieked.”
‘My friend said, ‘I’m so tired.’ I asked her, what did you do today? She replied with, ‘Nothing. I did nothing today.’
“I heard about her day. She got up early, made her husband breakfast, made him his lunch, dropped the kids off, rocked the baby to sleep, did the grocery shopping, cooked dinner, bathed the kids, fed the dogs, and when I called, she was folding laundry. I said, ‘Wow you’re right, you did do nothing.'”
‘He’s LOST. HIS. MIND. ‘What in the actual hell are you doing?’ Then I saw it. The glassy eyes.’: Wife hilariously recalls first time she ever saw her husband drunk
“I peek into the bathroom. He is NAKED, on the toilet with his face in a garbage can. He hears me shriek with laughter and screams, ‘CLOSE THE DOOR DANIELLE!!’ Me: ‘You drink a little too much?’ Justin: ‘NO! It was the chicken wings.’ I am DOUBLED OVER laughing at how ridiculous this is, and how stupid he thinks I am.”
‘Oh my God! Why did you slap me?’ He got out of the car. As I was crying I saw a big rock behind him. He told me he would give me all the money in our savings account if I told the cops to leave.’
“This was the start of me planning my escape. Shortly after that, the fights worsened.”
‘Normally she texts us when she leaves. We hadn’t heard from her. ‘She was in an accident. She didn’t make it.’: Mom says her normal was ‘forever changed’ after losing daughter in car accident
“Our doorbell rang. We opened the door and stood face-to-face with two State Troopers on our front porch. My head was spinning. This could not be happening. To us. To HER.”
‘The morning we left, I snuck into Olive’s room, kissed her cheeks and said goodbye, never knowing if I would see her again. I never knew how dearly I would come to love such a tiny little human.’
“She would cry many mornings as I cried, broken over the pain she was experiencing and longing with a deep ache for an adoptive family for her where she would know the love of a forever home.”
My Teen Was Assigned To Care For A Fake Interactive Baby, And All Schools Should Follow Suit
“She came into my room last night around 3 a.m. She was crying real tears while feeding him his bottle. She was begging me to help her because she just wanted to get some sleep. She is absolutely exhausted, ready to quit the class and give William back. Maybe even throw him back.”
‘As we stood in the doorway, I said, ‘Someday this will be our nursery!’ Then the foster care agency called. ‘A 4-year-old boy needs placement. His mom is having brain surgery.’
“He came into our lives, and the bedroom became his. He was delayed due to the neglect, but quickly loved to be snuggled. We thought he could stay. But that was not to be. Through our tears we hugged him and told him we loved him. Then, we buckled him into a car and watched it drive away.”