“Through tears, I asked: ‘Will I ever hear his little voice again?’ But, what can you do when your baby can’t breathe? We knew it was the right decision. Something had to be done for him. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Let’s do it.’”
‘I understand my options.’ I felt Malachi twist inside my belly. From that point on, I knew. ‘Tell them we sent you.’ My mind raced. My palms were sweating. ‘It’s time,’ I wrote. ‘I’m checking in now.’
‘Look at that fine a**.’ He followed me down the sidewalk. I felt that familiar tension in my chest and a knot in my throat. I was disgusted by my own skin.’
“I was bombarded with numerous questions. ‘What were you wearing?’ ‘Did you make them think you wanted it?’ ‘Why were you walking by yourself?’ For years, I recoiled at anything that made me feel sexy.”
‘It’s THIS stage, you first said the words, ‘Lub you too, mommy.’ You reach for mommy’s hand, then give her a sweet smile. You sing at the top of your lungs in your car seat.’
“Everyone warned me about the toddler years. The ‘terrible twos.’ The tantrums. The tears. All the dramatics. And right now, we’re in it. But let me tell you a little secret about this ‘trying stage.’”
‘I can’t believe I’m sharing this photo. An in-the-moment meltdown. Raw, vulnerable and unattractive. I accidentally snapped this pic of me in tears.’
“My anxiety was at an all-time high. I was embarrassed and ashamed of my kid’s behavior. I needed a mental break. I needed to be alone. The very next day, the triplets’ Pre-school teacher recommended therapy for my boys. I was devastated. Defeated. How has it come to this? Is it really that bad?”
‘When I was a little girl, we knew if mom came home with chocolate cake, we better shut up. Something had not gone right, and Momma was NOT happy.’: Woman recalls how late husband always knew how to fix her ‘bad day’
“My brother would do the recon. Sneak down the hall, hide behind the china hutch, peek around the kitchen door until he had an unobstructed view. No cake? Life went on. Yes cake? He’d army crawl back to my room with fear and panic on his face, and squeak out the word, ‘caaaakkkkeeee!'”
‘It’s just cramps. All girls have cramps.’ ‘You went home from school for that?’ Doctors told me it was all in my head. I felt embarrassed and ashamed.’
“If this piercing pain that brought me to my knees in tears and sent me home from school was so normal for so many women, then how come I never saw other girls on the floor gasping for air? I couldn’t understand how this was normal.”
‘He’s wearing his work clothes, just like daddy!’ My daughter exclaims each time her little brother wears a button-up shirt.’
“She follows up by saying, ‘But you don’t wear work clothes, because you don’t go to work, mommy.’ I cringed.”
‘He wasn’t so sure this was for him. Late in the pregnancy, they told her there was a chance the baby girl could have it. Deep in my heart, I already knew.’
“While at the game, an older gentleman came up to me and was hitting on me, creeping me out. Then I saw him. We chatted and he let me sit with him and his friends, ‘saving’ me from the creepy man.”
‘Well, if you ever need a kidney, I have two good ones.’: Woman ‘surprises’ best friend by becoming his kidney donor
“I chug my Bud Light and point finger guns at him. Oh, but how serious I would be. My best friend decides, after SEVERAL drinks, it’s time to tell me he was diagnosed with kidney disease.”
‘Please come pick up your son. He isn’t a good fit.’ He was there 3 hours before we got the call.’
“A good fit. I’ve rolled the words over and over again in my mind. In a matter of one conversation over lunchtime, they determined him ‘unfit’ and ‘too much’ for their school.”
‘She will probably never walk, but hey, these types of kids are always happy.’ Happy? I grieved for the daughter I thought I was going to bring home.’
“How was I going to be able to take care of my daughter? I wasn’t ‘special,’ I had no idea what to do! The doctor never even touched her. I realized my daughter was put in a box. A box of old school thinking and treatment.”
‘I woke up expecting it to be my last day on earth. I bought a bottle of pills and razors. Then I bought a rope. I had 3 different plans and figured one of them had to work.’
“I walked for miles to find an area with a good tree, and no people. I finally found a place. I tied the rope around the tree, and took what I thought would be my last breath. I stepped off the branch. Then, someone called. My phone rang and rang. I finally answered.”
‘I was belittled and embarrassed. There were 2 men who thought it was acceptable to be rude to me because they had previously ‘Spoken to my husband.’
“Today, I had to take my car to the local dealership for a service issue. Having dealt with one of these ‘old school’ thinking men at that location before, I hoped I would have the good fortune of not having to see him today. I was wrong.”
‘Your technician Robert came to our home. He walked into a mess. My son was born with two rare brain defects and is blind. Today has been rough for him.’: Mom thanks stranger for his compassion towards son with special needs
“When Robert walked in, Sailor ran to him and reached up. Robert didn’t seem bothered at all and, instead, held my son for the whole 45 minutes he was in our home. He could have walked in, rushed, and left, but instead he saw a need greater than internet and met it.”
‘Started class with this chart today and I’m so glad I did. It’s easy to misinterpret behavior and its cause.’: Teacher takes time for daily check-in with students
“Students wrote their name on the back of a sticky note and then placed it in the row that most accurately aligns with how they’re feeling right now.”
‘He went out on the lake. But something happened. He was gone. My Andy was missing for 3 weeks. He wasn’t found until an ice fisherman dropped his camera onto my husband’s foot.’
“To my dismay, I was selected as the Designated Driver. I also had to play the role of containing my husband from leaving me – to join the band. My Andy was an introvert to most, but not on this night in question. He had consumed several adult beverages.”
‘We hugged her. Then, we received a text. When we pushed the door open, all I heard was, ‘We have a situation.’ My heart sank. I knew what those words meant.’
“We secretly prepared for the baby. We received the call we had been waiting for. Baby was born. It was time to head to the hospital. If I’m being honest, I was sick to stomach thinking about what the next few hours might look like.”
‘I noticed Ellie had a cough. Then everything got scary really fast. All the blood in my head rushed to my feet. I caused my child’s illness.’: Daughter fights for her life after RSV diagnosis causes seizure
“I knew it was serious, so I finally broke down and called my mom. I told her I was in the ambulance and I didn’t think Ellie would make it. She told me she woke up around 3:00 a.m. and started praying because she felt something was wrong.”
‘My wife is now carrying our 8th child, our 8th loss. Everything inside me is twisted with pain.’: Husband mourns as ‘strong, courageous’ wife suffers 8th miscarriage
“I can’t think about the gravity of this situation. Don’t cry in front of all these strangers. Our parents will arrive soon, then the doctor will tell me to come back and see my wife as she wakes up. I’ll look at her and have that tangled up emotion of grief and gratitude. She’ll show her strength like she always does, even though she’s hopped up on meds and just went through one of the most traumatic things ever.”
‘My mother aggressively combed my curls with a plastic fine-toothed comb. It was painful. If I protested or uttered a sound, Mother would punch me on the head and rake the comb harder.’: Young woman survives narcissistic abusive mom
“The comb would make a dry, raking noise. Clumps of hair were ripped off my scalp. I tried not to react. If I winced of moved, Mother would just do it harder. She was careful to only do it behind closed doors.”
‘I couldn’t hide the huge bumps on my face. I felt hideous. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. I genuinely HATED what I saw.’
“A friend told me, ‘You must not be trying hard enough. Do you wash your face at all?’ For years, I didn’t leave the house. He would offer to take me on dates. My answer was always the same. ‘No.’ I became obsessed.”
‘Your heart rate is fast and it skips. We don’t know why. You are young, you will grow out of it.’ The appointments were worthless. The doctor wrote me off as a hypochondriac.’
“I was angry. Enraged is more like it. I realized my major problems started at the end of 2013. What had I done differently that year? I had birth control inserted in my arm. It was just a hunch, but I knew deep down I was right.”
‘His peaceful face let me know, ‘I’m free, I am OKAY Mom, like you said I would be.’: Mom receives message in dream from son that died of cancer
“I have received over 50 vivid dream visits from Logan since his passing, where he is solid, warm and as real as you and I. Some dreams he tells me things, others we just hug, hold hands, laugh together, or spend time together saying nothing at all. One of the most unforgettable things he has told me are, ‘Heaven is just another place. I’m not gone!”
‘Lots of women don’t know where they stand in their relationship. They don’t feel sexy anymore. They feel like the spark is gone. They’re not sure if they’re wanted.’
“They feel like their children, home and family are the only reason their partner hasn’t randomly come home one day, asking to call it quits.”
‘My boy is 13 and he has WHITE HAIR!’ I went into a hysterical panic and phoned his doctor. We waited in a small exam room with dinosaurs. This alone made me sick; my boy was no toddler.’
“I noticed something strange on Daniel’s knee. A white patch. It was the size of a dime and honestly looked like an old scar. When I asked him what happened, he replied, ‘I don’t know.’ I remember nearly yelling at her, ‘Yes, BUT HE HAS WHITE HAIR! Could there be anything else going on with my son?!'”