“I was sitting at a coffee shop and overheard (I was eavesdropping) two women behind me. One was complaining about her daughter-in-law who’d just given birth to her grandchild. ‘I offered to help, but this ridiculous!’ she said. Here’s the thing. I’ve learned if we really want to help, we just show up. We ring their doorbell and start unloading their dishwasher or play with their kid while they take a shower. We shove a lasagna in the oven so they don’t have to think about dinner.”
‘I was doing her laundry FOR her. She was watching me fold her thong underwear. She just stood there holding the baby! This is ridiculous.’: Mom urges others to remember helping means doing so with ‘no strings attached’
‘Gabrielle, look at me.’ I burst into tears and told her I was struggling. ‘That’s it. I’m coming over. I’m taking the baby. You are going to eat and shower!’: Overwhelmed new mom thankful to friend for ‘showing the hell up’
“She could see I was avoiding eye contact. She showed up to my house, took my baby. I stood there, staring at her and my baby. Like, ‘What do I do now?’ She looked at me and said, ‘We are fine! GO TAKE A SHOWER. I know what I’m doing!’ Sometimes the kind of love I need is this.”
‘One more thing,’ she said. ‘What?’ the pastor replied. ‘I want to be buried with a fork in my hand.’ His eyes welled with tears.’: Woman shares life advice, reminds us ‘the best is yet to come’
“In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the main course was being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. The next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, the best is yet to come.”
‘Invite them in. Show them the real you. Cry, laugh, spill your insecurities. Take a chance and find your people.’: Woman thankful for true friends she can ‘do real life’ with
“Find that friend you can spend all day with and not get tired of. The one who shows up uninvited and knows she’s welcome. Who cheers your victories and calls your bullsh*t. The one who asks how you are, and actually listens to the answer. That one who knows the reason you turned down a night out is because you have strict plans to wear sweatpants and do nothing at home by yourself. And she loves you anyway.”
‘When I’m out with you, I’m all in. I can dance, wine taste, make small talk. But then I’m done. I have an escape plan.’: Woman explains difficulties of being an ‘extroverted introvert’ during the holiday season
“I really like going out and hanging out with people, but it takes me days to recover from it. I need to lay on the couch to recoup from the mental toll it takes. People exhaust me. When my husband drinks, he becomes an energizer bunny. Me? The more I drink, the more tired I become. Once I hit that wall, there is no turning back. I am done-done-done. I can only be social for a set amount of time. If that time is up, I have an escape plan.”
‘I don’t answer texts. I don’t make plans, and if I do, I cancel. Sometimes I need a break to figure out what’s going on in my head.’: Woman thankful for friends who stick around despite mental health struggles
“Sometimes, my anxiety and depression can make me a sh*tty friend. For the friends who have stuck around while I cancel plans, go radio silent, and patiently wait until I’m ready to talk, you’re the real ones. I’m lucky to have you.”
‘We couldn’t possibly have known. There was so much more ahead of us.’: Woman reminisces on being a clueless new mother, ‘You’ll all be OK because you already know the secret, how to love this baby’
“I just found this picture behind another photo in a frame and I’ve unearthed a memory. I see young me, about 3 weeks into my mom journey. I couldn’t possibly have known. And I’m glad I didn’t.”
‘I didn’t have to be strong around my best friends. They were my shoulders to cry and scream on.’: Woman thanks ‘true friendships’ for getting her through rough year
“This year started off rough. I had heart surgery and later got thyroid cancer. I was strong for everyone around me. However, I wasn’t strong for myself. When no one was around, I cried, a lot. Do you know what really helped me? My two best friends. They were strong for me. That’s the thing with true friendships. Not the ‘get the most likes on Instagram’ friendships – the real, raw friendships. We care about is each other. It’s that simple.”
‘It’s been 2 weeks. When will your belly go down?’ ‘When will you stop being moody?’ She is not herself. She probably never will be.’: Mom urges us to ‘rally behind’ women post-labor
“Spouses, ask how she’s feeling. Her entire body just stretched and morphed to share it with another human being. Do you know how absolutely bonkers a woman’s hormones are during pregnancy and after delivery? Becoming a mom for the 1st, 2nd, or even 5th time changes you, forever. Clap for new moms. Your words matter. We need them to be positive.”
‘I am grateful for girlfriends. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize you are my heroes.’: Woman thanks her ‘tribe’ of best friends who help deal with the ‘real stuff’
“I just freaking love you. Honestly, I didn’t really ‘get it’ until my 30’s; until the dramas of life started to be really critical. Lifetime level heartbreaks, pregnancies, cancers, divorces, careers, health, death. The real stuff. The real real.”
