“Out of the blue, a month later, I received an email from them: ‘We’d like to offer you a $150 stipend for your dedication.’ They thanked me for the time and effort I put into my application and interviews. I was floored.”
‘I didn’t want to say this over email, but we picked someone else for the job.’ After a year of rejections, I lost my sense of worth.’: Woman details company’s act of kindness after job rejection
‘I’ve seen so many people leave the church because they could no longer handle being treated less than in the place that was supposed to be their rest.’: Woman talks religious double standard
“I’m sorry for the religion that shamed you, scolded you, judged you, and knocked you down. But that wasn’t Jesus.”
‘She was a homeless, single teen mom who aged out of foster care. She had 6 kids and was the same age as me! My heart broke.’: Single woman fosters 36 kids, adopts 2 children into ‘forever family’
“I made sure the case worker knew I spoke Spanish. I wanted him to have a familiar culture and language. ‘We have a baby boy at the hospital who is ready to be discharged. He is Hispanic. Are you willing to take him?’ This was the moment these 25 years and Spanish classes had prepared me for! I walked into the hospital with an empty stroller, and came out with a forever son.”
‘I texted her, ‘My baby has died inside me. Would you still be willing to come?’: Mom to child born still thanks birth photographer, ‘These pictures are our most precious possessions’
“We found out at 38 weeks and 4 days that our baby had died inside of me. I knew immediately, more than ever, I wanted those photos.”
‘The doctor said, ‘How do you want to leave this hospital? With a poop bag or in a box?’ I denied consent 8 times.’: Woman with ulcerative colitis, ostomy bag says ‘you only get one body, love it!’
“I’d spent so long thinking no one would ever love me and then when I finally found the perfect, most precious man, I had to get a poo bag? I wanted to scream and cry and throw things. On my 26th birthday, I was looking death in the face.”
‘I explained my past. ‘The man took photographs. He was 57 years old.’ I hated myself and turned to drugs.’: Woman with BPD gets sober, changes life, ‘I love how far I’ve come’
“I struggled to talk to the therapist. I explained what I went through when I was 12. I encountered a child predator. Having my son pushed me to find the answers as to what happened.”
‘No one tells you it’s going to be this hard. The second they take their first breath will also be the day you’ll begin to forever hold your own.’: Mom gushes ‘it is all worth it’
“You’ll wish more than anything to return to yesterday, to go back for just one day, to witness their first smile, revel in their first giggle, and be serenaded by their very first coos.”
Some Days A Daughter Just Needs Her Mom
“When the days feel long. When we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. When we need someone who will feel the same excitement in her heart. We are all just our mother’s daughters. We carry their heartbeat within us every day.”
‘I drove 15 hours to see the girl I was ‘talking’ to. ‘Why would you do that? Why would you try so hard and drive so far?’: Husband urges ‘never stop chasing her the way you did before you had her’
“I drove 15 hours to Florida. I stayed for 20 hours. Then I drove 15 hours back. If you want something bad enough, you never get tired of chasing it.”
‘We may never be ’empty-nesters.’ She may never live independently. But I’d be pretty darn happy taking nightly strolls, arm in arm, forever.’: Special needs mom shares sweet moment
“I was at a stop sign. Crossing the street in front of me was a couple in their 80s and their adult daughter, who had Down syndrome. They seemed to be out for an evening stroll and the daughter and mom were arm in arm. Everyone was smiling. It got me thinking.”
