“She was so upset I was at the hospital versus at college studying for my final exams for my senior year. She kept writing ‘I am okay’ on a notepad. She held on a few moments longer. My last visual memory is her sitting up, waving goodbye because she was doing ‘better.’ I can’t help but think that was her plan all along.”
‘She had tubes down her throat. She immediately grabbed my hand and wrote ‘I (heart) U’ with her finger in the palm.’: Woman grieves mothers death, ‘I lost her 10 days before I graduated college’
‘I know you’re thinking, ‘Wow she is really trashing IVF and praising adoption,’ and to that, I’d say, HELL YES, I AM!’: After adoption woman wishes she could travel back in time, ‘I would tell her to stop’
“This is a true story and I’m here to say what others might not. I was there. I wanted to love and be loved unconditionally.”
‘He’ll claim his place on your hip for a while, then in your heart forever. I thank God every day for choosing me to mother a baby boy.’: Boy mom says ‘nothing can prepare you for this kind of joy’
“Expect mud, expect stink. Expect him to grow wild and fast, expect to raise your voice. But most of all, expect more love than you could ever imagine. Truth is, nothing can ever really prepare you for this kind of joy and calling.”
‘No one has tried to fill your role. No one can love us the way you did. You were the GOAT. Not a day goes by we don’t celebrate you.’: Man pens letter to late wife on first birthday in heaven
“You’ve been in Heaven for 75 days now, and there is this pandemic thing going on. Yep, right after you went to be with Jesus, the entire country shut down. On really ‘important days,’ like today, I find myself searching for you, even more than usual.”
‘A woman scans my groceries, says something to me. ‘I can’t hear.’ I tell her to write. She gives me a dismissive hand wave.’: Deaf woman reminds us to be patient during the pandemic. ‘It goes a long way’
“The tears fall. She gives me the wave off with her hand saying, ‘Never mind.’ I’ve faced frustration, but never like this.”
‘I told him two men shot you, for no reason. ‘Do you wear sneakers. In heaven?’ It’s too big. He can’t swallow it.’: Mom of autistic son wonders how to take action for Ahmaud Arbery
“I don’t know what it’s like to watch behind me when I run, or worry someone may shoot me. I am a middle-aged white woman living in suburbia. I don’t know what it’s like to be you, but I do have a vulnerable child—not for the color of his skin, but for the invisible wiring inside his brain.”
‘He may not make it through the next hour.’ I didn’t want to answer the phone. I just had to get to the NICU.’’ Mom mourns the loss of adopted 8-day-old micro-preemie, ‘His tiny footprints are forever stamped on my heart’
“The mama we had matched with for adoption, though not due for 16 weeks, was in crisis. I cried uncontrollably. All I saw was the most beautiful, amazing baby boy, fighting to live.”
‘Omgoodness, Becky did you just Google my problem?’ I’d been trying to figure something out. Almost right away, she sent all the info.’: Mom says ‘find a friend that will Google your problem for you’
“As a full-time-working-stay-at-home-home-schooling-mom-wife-teacher-writer, we can get so incredibly busy and burdened. Sometimes we need people to listen to us vent or shed some light for us.”
‘Is everything alright, bud?’ He had an announcement: ‘Your dad came back to you in the form of your son.’: Boy says late grandpa is now new little brother, ‘I have never felt more peaceful’
“My father had passed away. ‘What do you mean?’ I was a little confused. ‘When he was in your tummy, grandpa played trains with me in my room. He said he was going to be my baby brother now so we could play trains together all of the time soon.’ I stood there, truly taken aback.”
‘We used an anonymous donor to form our family despite having additional frozen embryos we could have continued trying.’: Mom of 3 hopes ‘my boys are proud one day’
“There have been decisions Steph and I have made as parents that we know our children may have opinions on. If one day my children question them, I hope my heart is proud to have raised children who can think for themselves.”
‘Forgotten lunch boxes and sweatshirts remain. Untold stories, empty playgrounds. The desks are still full, but empty of the one thing that made them come alive each day.’: Mom says return to school will be ‘a day of celebration’
“The artwork on the walls is full of shamrocks and gold, rainbows, and leprechauns. Spring was right within their grasp. They said, ‘I’ll see you in a little while.’ A little while has gone on longer than anyone imagined it would, but in that classroom, time stands still.”
‘Can you help with the chores?’ You’d have thought I just ruined my stepson’s life. He balked and resisted, often leaving behind his dirty dishes.’: Stepmom says ‘parenting is a process of growing’
“Despite being reminded, he usually forgot in his mad dash to grab his keys and rush out the door. And that stepmom? Well, she got really annoyed by it. I worried he’d never learn the value of taking care of things, the value of helping others out, or being aware of his surroundings.”
‘He’d point out my stretch marks and the physical things he wanted to change about me. ‘I’m sorry I said that, but you bring it out of me.’: Abuse survivor urges ‘it’s not your fault’
“He’d tell me what girls he thought was hot, who he’d sleep with. He had no problem gawking at other girls in front of me. He said he felt unimportant and that I gave him no attention, even though my eyes were always on him and he had his attention elsewhere. I was convinced I was unloveable.”
‘The same people who were created from sex are the same reason why you’ll never have it again.’: Mom hilariously points out the ironies of motherhood
“You yell at your children to just ‘listen, for goodness sakes,’ but can tune those monkeys out like it’s nobody’s business. You gain 50 pounds and yet you’ve never sat down to have a proper meal ever! You spend all day waiting for those stinkers to go bed, but when they fall asleep, you stare at their little faces, your heart so full of love.”
‘The affair was virtual and emotional, but that’s it. You reported all my mistakes to your family. I wanted to be perfect for you.’: Woman begs for forgiveness after ’emotional’ affair
“Nothing can or should justify why I engaged in a virtual online affair with someone else while being with you. I am explaining what led me to doing it, and why it meant nothing to me. It’s here, in this moment, that I broke and made the worst decision in my life.”
‘The procedure was supposed to fix his infertility. ‘Ma’am, your husband is in septic shock. He needs emergency surgery right away.’: Couple embrace child-free life after near-death experience, ‘We learned how precious every day is’
“I waited in the hospital, crying and shaking uncontrollably. Once he was settled, I was allowed access to his room. Nothing can prepare you for seeing your life partner, your love, on a ventilator with numerous wounds. I was afraid to touch him. I was afraid to do more damage. I felt responsible because he did the procedure for me, knowing how desperately I wanted to have a baby.”
‘That night I cried in my driveway for a child. 10 minutes later, I got a call. ‘Can you take in 1-year old twin boys?’: 26-year-old single foster mom says ‘I was called for plans bigger than myself’
“There I was, a single 26-year-old woman. I can’t relate to abuse. I can’t relate to being moved to 5 different foster homes in a 4-month time frame. I can’t relate to being homeless and sleeping in a car. But what I can do is wrap my arms around them, hold them, and tell them their story doesn’t end here.”
‘It was like searching Tinder for a threesome without any of the sex, and I was terrified. We looked for women who closely resembled me most.’: Woman shares insight into infertility, ‘I truly would have stopped at nothing’
“She was my understudy. A woman I would never know. We didn’t want to have to explain why I gave birth to a half Asian baby. By this point, we had spent SO MUCH MONEY, and to walk away without trying one more option seemed like we just blew it all for nothing.”
‘You didn’t like your sister. ‘Meh, at least she won’t be here long.’ I worried about how we would ever navigate this growing chasm between you.’: Mom thankful for growing bond between siblings, ‘What a privilege it is to watch this friendship blossom’
“You picked on her. You were extra rough and rambunctious as a toddler. You were jealous. It was hard. I made it a point to explain…over and over again… if you were on the same side, at least you’d always have a friend. I’m awestruck when I see you protecting her from harm.”
‘My anxiety feels unmanageable.’ I feel my entire body get tight. I get incredibly tense, from my legs to my head.’: Autism mom explains anxiety during COVID-19, ‘Lack of control can feel paralyzing’
“I get defensive about anything and everything. I immediately feel like everything is my fault and there is no way I can be enough. I turn into someone who is unrecognizable to the people who know me, as I’m simply the worst version of myself.”
‘I watched my husband come alive under the appreciation of another woman. Somewhere between the dirty laundry and dishes, I stopped laughing at his jokes.’: Woman says ‘your husband is funny, don’t forget to notice’
“When I was 22, he was the funniest man on earth. My cheeks hurt every time I was with him. Now, between the dirty laundry and pile of dishes, I could sprain my neck from how hard I roll my eyes in his direction. Every joke my husband tossed she caught with enthusiasm. He looked alive. His eyes were wide and his mouth was in a permanent grin.”
‘I wonder what she would have thought of all the hoarding. That’s not how they did it back then. She made reusing aluminum foil fun.’: Woman worries about her generation, ‘We have a bold task ahead’
“I can remember my grandmother’s engaging and sometimes horrific stories of sacrifice. She could cook big feed the masses until all of our buttons burst. And she did this with a very limited fixed income. No part of a chicken roast was ever wasted.”
‘We’ve had two children go through some form of gender identity struggle. ‘How can you deal with that?’ It’s a life or death question.’: Mom says ‘be affirming and accepting of your kids, however they identify’
“Both have settled at this time on their assigned gender at birth but for both, there was a time when that wasn’t what they felt was true for them.”
‘Everything’s going to be alright,’ we whisper. She can swoop in and make it all better, but she doesn’t have superpowers.’: Mom says ‘we’re humans that struggle too’
“You see, she’s been fighting mental illness on top of a pandemic. She’s been worrying about her kids every second of the day. She’s been trying to make everyone’s world as normal as possible, and guess who’s forgotten? Her. Don’t let her carry all the burden alone.”
‘Sorry, I’m just tapped out.’ I said this to my kids’ teacher as she requested a private zoom. I’m trying to function in the unfunctionable.’: Mom of 5 says ‘we’re freaking rockstars’
“At the same time as this, I had two other kids hopping on their google meets, I had to pull my oldest from her work to hold the baby, the kids’ Dad had a call just starting, and as I struggled with my laptop to even find which Godforsaken link I needed to even click, I was ready to crumble.”