“He was confused. He was tired. I couldn’t even be upset. ‘We will find it. It’s ok.’ My heart said we would. My brain knew we wouldn’t. Right then, I accepted he was going to die, and he was going to do that without his ring.”
‘He thought he lost his wedding ring. We went back in, couldn’t find it. I asked him again where he thinks he lost it. ‘I don’t know. I just heard it hit the ground.’
‘Some of the bravest warriors I know aren’t the ones in uniforms, they are the ones left behind on the home front. Yes, I’m talking about you, military spouse.’: Wife pens appreciation letter to veteran husband
“I see you, military wife/husband. I see you standing quietly by their side as praise is given for their service.”
‘He was her strength, her protector, her everything – until he wasn’t. Nothing, absolutely nothing, prepared us for the affect it would have on Dad.’
“He started calling at 4 a.m. He was extremely agitated. Panicked. He told us we have to come get him – NOW! The father we know and love is almost unrecognizable to either of us.”
‘Marriage 3. I asked him why he treats me the way he does. He said, ‘Maybe because I like it and I thought you wouldn’t leave.’: Woman recounts her four marriages, ‘Love comes in many forms’
“We got married. We adopted a baby girl, and a year after that, had a baby girl. Life was wonderful for 2 years. Then things changed.”
‘It’s time! NOW!’ Everything was a blur. My mind racing, I was carrying someone else’s dreams.’: Surrogate delivers woman’s child after meeting couple that ‘felt like fate’
“I was pushing while nurses were rushing to break down the bed, my husband and a soon-to-be dad on each side, and a soon-to-be mom gloving up to help deliver HER baby. I had the happiest, most uncontrollable tears.”
‘I broke. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t know the bad days would be like THIS.’
“I didn’t eat. Didn’t drink. A day where taking a moment completely set someone into a rage.”
‘I play out the details of that final weekend in my head. Struck by how quickly it was all over. Just like that, she was gone. Gone forever.’
“It intensifies on November 8th. That is the day my soulmate came home for Veterans Day weekend. It was a Thursday evening, as it is this year. She kissed me goodbye, then my life was turned upside down.”
‘Do you want to tell me about her?’ I’ll never forget the way you leaned in, just like we were friends, and asked me about Dorothy.’: Mom’s heartfelt thanks to nurses for ‘bringing her back’ after newborn daughter’s death
“Thank you to the nurse who dressed my baby and took her picture. Thank you for whispering to me your story about your own child who was born still. Your presence felt too good to be true.”
‘This is the face of a momma who had a rough night, and then had a rough morning. Who is having a hard time forgiving herself for yelling. Who feels guilty, but isn’t entirely sure why.’
“Give yourself some grace, change your thoughts from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I will,’ and dry those pretty eyes. You’ve got this.”
‘When I lost my father at 18, you were there. You didn’t force me to talk about my emotions. You shared your father with me when I no longer had one.’
“As young parents I would call you crying because the task of being an adult was too overwhelming. I didn’t feel like enough of a wife or mother. You were kind to irrational postpartum me.”
I Thought My Child Had ADHD—Turns Out, It Was A Treatable Sleep Disorder
“Children should not breathe through their mouths. Not while awake, not while asleep. Never.”
‘I prayed for him to be arrested. I didn’t want my brother to be harmed, but I wanted him safe. I wanted him to have a chance. I knew if he ran, it would not end well.’
“I finally got the courage to empty the room where you once slept, back when you were you. I have finally processed the pain. I’ve finally stopped blaming myself – for the most part.”
HERO OF CALIFORNIA BAR SHOOTING: Matt Wennerstrom smashed a window with a bar stool to rescue 30 or 35 people
“Bar stools go through windows. It works. That’s all we could do,” said Wennerstrom.
‘Did you hurt my baby?!’ My ex replied, ‘No!’ I looked into my 3-month-old’s eyes. Blank stare.’: Mom ‘heartbroken’ after ex-husband’s abuse causes newborn Shaken Baby Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, blindness
“The night before, her biological father picked her up and took her home with him. As I walked into the ER, I heard the worst noise. A moaning sound. ‘There’s no way that’s my daughter.’ It was. ‘Your daughter’s on life support. She’ll most likely never move or open her eyes.’ I still had no idea what was going on. It felt like a nightmare.”
‘She stuck around. Why? Why won’t she just leave? We are all miserable and it’s because of me. Doesn’t she see that?’: Man works to overcome his PTSD
“My wife and son would come home and tip toe around me as my anger would rear its ugly head. Unbeknownst to me, my wife was scared to be out of the house for too long as that caused my anger to rise as well. ‘What the f*ck were you doing? You know I am f*cked up and can’t ‘babysit’ our son!,’ I would shout.”
‘I get it. I finally get it. You see moms committing suicide. And I couldn’t understand it. How do you leave your kids behind like that?’
“And then everybody posts, ‘Oh, I never knew. She didn’t say anything. She seemed okay.’ She TOLD you.”
‘My daughter said, ‘There’s a light coming into the picture.’ It wasn’t just any light. This was a beam straight from HEAVEN itself.’: Mom receives ‘unexpected signs’ from late father
“This pregnancy has been exceptionally harder for me emotionally, knowing I won’t have any pictures of my dad holding this baby. I keep praying for him to show up in some way or another. And boy, did he.”
‘When I gave birth to my second child, I relapsed. I was running around, so it was easy to miss lunch. But then, I started missing that meal purposely.’
“’Just because I did it in the past doesn’t mean I’d do it again. Plus, I’m breastfeeding.’ That was the scary thing, I was BREASTFEEDING, and my daughter needed the nutrients. Hearing myself say those words out loud freaked me out. I lied.”
‘There’s a lot of fluid in there. I’m going to get your doctor.’ My heart sank, and I debated calling my husband, but just sat there, numb.’: Birth photographer shares her own stillbirth, encourages others to share
“I trusted my doctor dearly, so I knew she’d have something good to say. She always did. She did not this time.”
‘If I could sit down beside 25-year-old me, the one sobbing and screaming uncontrollably on the floor, I would have a lot of things to tell her.’: Motherless daughter reflects on the day she lost her mom
“I would sit right beside the younger me who is screaming, ‘Why her??’ and ‘Where are YOU?? How did you just disappear??’ and ‘How am I going to survive this without you??'”
‘His dying wish was to be home. I never got to thank him for drying my tears when I was broken inside as a victim of bullying.’
“It’s the things I no longer remember that hurt so deeply. What it feels like to wrap my arms around his neck to hug him. I no longer remember the feeling of joy he brought me. Loving him feels like a lifetime ago.”
‘I used to be the wild girl, could have 4 or 5 drinks and be dancing like no one’s watching. I had confidence to talk to anyone, had more energy than one should.’
“I am invisible. And that can hurt. There are still parts of the old me that I miss. You are born alone, spend years developing who you are, becoming an independent woman… and then suddenly you become someone’s mom, someone who is too exhausted to enjoy life.”
‘Where was I? Frantically driving around the streets of Detroit, trying to find you, with tears streaming down my face, fear in my stomach, yet determination in my heart.’
“I see the comment so often when it comes to addiction. ‘Where were the parents?’ That REALLY infuriates me. We feel judged, unsure of what to say.”
‘The miscarriage destroyed my relationship with my best friend. Neither of us knew how to process the grief.’: Woman details experience through pregnancy, miscarriage, abuse and hope
“I received a phone call from Dae who had just turned 14. She was calling to tell me she was pregnant. We ended up being due 3 weeks apart. I was shocked.”
‘I was terrified to take this tiny human home! How was I going to do this all alone? But Jager was always there to lend a helping paw.’: New mother relies on service dog to help her through postpartum depression
“I would cry for what seemed like no reason. I would get so overwhelmed at the sound of my baby crying. Jager fetched bottles for me, diapers if I asked him to. Mostly he would just sit and listen to me. Always offering a good old-fashioned, wet, slobbery kiss if I needed it. He is so much more than just a dog to me.”