“I spent far too many moments considering all the ways I could be with my son, in whatever afterlife he exists in. I even shut my own husband out. I was done living like this. I vowed to do better. I don’t know how strong I can stay. I am fragile. But I do know, I am trying.”
‘I was not okay. I had lost my child to death, and I was losing myself to life.’: Mom’s powerful vow to ‘claw her way out’ of ‘the darkness’ after sudden loss of 7-month-old son
‘Don’t give up on me. My husband, you can’t love away my abuse or trauma, but just knowing you want to, makes my world feel whole.’: Wife suffering from PTSD thanks husband for staying with her through ‘horrific pain’
“All you need to say is, ‘You are safe. You are loved.’ Six words can free us from the prison of our minds. Please don’t walk away. Abandonment is what we wait for.”
‘I knew from the moment I saw you, that I wanted you.’ I got scared, and rightly so. Then came the pressure for sex. I was a virgin.’: Woman’s survives narcissistic relationship with her ‘best friend’ despite him ‘tormenting’ her
“‘You don’t love me if you don’t do everything I want in bed,’ he claimed. He stormed out, pushing me away in the process. I came after him, as always. I had been conditioned. He was drinking in my parking lot. We argued, agreed to put it behind us, and went to bed. ‘Don’t tell anyone what happened, even your family,’ he told me.”
‘Mom she’s gone, I just know.’ I sat on my stairs with my front door open, in shock.’: How this ‘broken’ mother helps other parents of child loss heal after her own tragedy
“Seeing my sweet baby girl laying in a huge bed, much too big for her, made me fall to my knees. A nurse said to me, ‘Get off the floor, it’s so dirty.’ I was angry at her, I was angry at the hospital chaplain placing his eerie hand on my shoulder with no real comfort. No parent should have to write their child’s eulogy, or decide between a casket or an urn. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.”
‘His comment was, ‘This is our summer and we aren’t doing anything fun.’ It was my fault, just like everything else.’: Woman’s struggle with severe anxiety and how her boyfriend helps her get through it
“I text my love and apologize. ‘I love you. I’m sorry I’m so emotional. I’m sorry we aren’t out having fun.’ I finally convince him he can go back downstairs, I’ll be ok. I lay back down and continue to cry. He sent me a LONG message. ‘You’re not ‘broken.'”
‘I almost set our house on fire. Not in the trendy ‘my home is ‘lit’’ kind of way. Nope.’ Mom’s eye-opening frozen pizza accident forced her to get out of ‘survival mode’
“I thought that since I followed the instructions to place the pizza directly on the rack, the smoky smell was just the toppings dropping off the pizza and burning. Nope. My husband explained I could have burned the whole house down, and all of us inside of it. He’s right.”
‘I can do this, right?’ I scanned the faces around me, absolutely mortified. ‘Of course. Just take your shirt off!’ Peopled waved, said hello. Where were the looks of disgust?!’ Mom embraces plus-size beach body to set example for daughter
“I spent years trying to sabotage my marriage in hopes he’d leave me for someone skinny. Day after day, I’d tell myself how nasty, disgusting, fat I was. I had no idea my gorgeous daughter was listening. She started saying how fat she was. How ugly. I was HORRIFIED. I knew I needed to make a change.”
‘Your brother is dead. Pick up the phone!’ That was the text my sister sent me. I was studying at the time, thinking I was too busy to chat.’ Brother loses twin to tragic heroin addiction
“During his funeral, one of our friends approached me. ‘Your brother really loved you, you know that?’ I said, ‘Yeah I know.’ He continued, ‘One time I told him I was gonna hang out with you. He got really angry. He told me I better watch my back, and that he’d kill me if I got you to start using, too.’ I almost cried right there.”
‘I couldn’t believe it. My brain told me, ‘Get another pregnancy test!’ I caved in. ‘What am I going to do?!’ Woman details shocking reaction from partner after positive pregnancy test
“I remember it like it was yesterday. The test was on my nightstand. The second he saw the papers, his entire perspective shifted. He became finicky. But most of all, he was so cold. ‘Get an abortion or I’ll commit suicide.’ My heart shattered.”
‘I think I made a mistake. A mistake in having him at all,’ I texted. I wished to GOD I could go back to pre-child life. ‘You are not meant to be a mother,’ I told myself.’ Woman’s severe struggle with postpartum depression
“I vividly remember hearing my baby cry for the first time and feeling… nothing. ‘Mom he looks just like you!,’ the doctor said. I tried to squeeze out a tear because that’s what new moms do, right? I tried to feel happiness. It wasn’t there.”
