Touching
🤧
‘I was 15, terrified. I got my first positive pregnancy test in my high school bathroom.’: Teen mom marries high school sweetheart, 4 kids later she ‘wouldn’t change a thing’
“It was a Friday night, the first football game of the year. I was a freshman. One of my friends talked me into going to the game and dance afterwards. Little did I know, that dance would change my life. I ran into my neighbor and his friend, Chad. We talked, laughed, had a great time. By the end of the night, I put my number in Chad’s phone. Months later, I was asking my friend to buy me a pregnancy test. I was 15.”
‘There’s nothing you could have done. It wasn’t your fault,’ my nurse said. I started sobbing on the phone.’: Woman’s finds healing after ‘agonizing’ miscarriage, ‘I promise you, there is LIFE after loss’
“I remember sitting in the doctor’s office at age 17, wondering if having my own kids was ever a possibility for me. I’d been diagnosed with PCOS at a young age. He put me on birth control and it hardly affected my life. Until I started seriously dating. I felt like dating me came with a warning label – a precursor: ‘Watch out, no guarantee I can have kids.’ And what if someone didn’t want to marry me because of it?”
‘When you marry a nurse, you marry their job. She gives 100% day in and day out.’: Man writes sweet tribute to nurse wife, ‘this is her calling’
“As my nurse sleeps, I quietly clean the house, do the dishes, prepare meals, do laundry. When she’s leaving, she has a clean home, clean scrubs, somewhat sane children, and a meal ready to go. 5 hours after her shift should’ve ended, she calls. I let her talk, I let her vent. She just wants to stay awake. I let her know she’s an amazing mother, nurse, wife. It’s the little things that matter. They all count.”
‘I became a crappy friend. My best friend got cancer. Instead of being a rockstar, I went MIA.’: Woman pens sweet letter to best friend who beat cancer after losing her mother
“My best friend showed up at my son’s birthday party and told me she had the same cancer that took my mom a year earlier. I was numb. Heartbroken. Clueless how to maneuver through grief, while also trying to support her. Sure, I sent cards and care packages. But I was MIA. Truth is, I was obsessively thinking about her. It’s taken a year to finally wake up.”
‘My autistic son had an atomic meltdown. ‘Can we so something special?’ My heart is so happy.’: Mom in awe after railway staff’s acts of kindness, ‘you truly made a difference in our lives’
“My son is autistic and LOVES trains. Tonight, we were supposed to ride the Polar Express. He was so excited he beat his dad and I up pretty badly. Finally, I had to say, ‘Let’s go back to the hotel.’ I went into the bathroom and silently cried. I wanted this so badly for him. Then, there was a knock on the door. ‘Maintenance!’ They wanted to do something special for our family.”
‘To the dad at the bounce park, thank you for teaching your child to interact with someone ‘different.’: Mom to son with Down syndrome shares stranger’s act of kindness, inclusion that made her ‘heart swell’
“Your boy took off with the ball Cedar was playing with. You didn’t do what every other parent has done: give the ball back to the child who is different, apologize, and go. This felt genuine, special. You sat down next to Cedar and taught your son to roll the ball back and forth. You saw my little boy loved this so much. Yours was unsure, but you kept showing him how happy mine was. Cedar giggled and clapped. You did, too. I watched in amazement.”
‘I was an ‘accident.’ My birth mom ‘tried to get rid of me,’ but couldn’t. She didn’t even want to name me.’: Orphan named by stranger in hospital room finally adopted at 26, ‘I longed to belong’
“To this day, I’m still not sure which random stranger named me in that hospital room. I was sent to a hospital for a full screening. They documented all the marks on my body with hours of questioning. I trembled in fear. In a dark hallway, a nurse – who took her job because her husband was also a survivor of child abuse – spoke these words to me. I can still hear her strong yet gentle voice. ‘Annie, the cycle ends with you.’ I finally know now, my parents aren’t going anywhere.”
‘Am I really going to be a dad?’ He smiled. ‘You aren’t mad?’ We were too young to have kids.’: Mom suffers PTSD after son is stillborn, ‘they couldn’t find anything wrong’
“He sat on the couch next to me. HE STARTED CRYING! As soon as I stepped on the linoleum, I felt a HUGE gush! A puddle of bright, red blood. His face turned white, his eyes were huge. ‘Has he moved at all today? Could you feel him?!’ I felt my heart shatter. I had one job. All I had to do was keep my baby safe. This can’t be real, it’s a nightmare. ‘Taylor…I’m so sorry.’ We studied him so we wouldn’t forget anything. He was perfect. It actually surprised me.”
‘Mom, I’ve decided something.’ My teen son came out as an atheist. My response? I simply said, ‘Okay.’: Christian mom accepts son’s lack of faith, ‘love is our spiritual center’
“Our family is deeply, extremely religious. Christianity shapes our values, traditions. My son seemed surprised by my reaction. Perhaps he was expecting a big, long argument. He was bracing himself for battle. I have none to give. LOVE is our spiritual center. I could not be prouder of the man you’re becoming.”
‘Why bother? Nothing’s left.’ I was a washed-up, homeless junkie injecting meth into my arm.’: Veteran launches organization to end veteran suicide after battling addiction, ‘your life is worth living’
“When that picture on the left was taken, I was in the height of my meth addiction. My only concern was my next high. It’s how I dealt with the war and the loss of my father. I burned every bridge and friendship I’d ever made. I didn’t think there was anything left of me worth saving, so why bother? I was wrong, so wrong.”
