“When he was diagnosed with autism, it changed nothing between you. You loved him for being himself. He doesn’t have to pretend with you. Back then, I didn’t truly know how much your role would mean. I’m so happy he has you to walk through this life together.”
‘You lift him up, no matter how heavy the world seems. You’re his safe place, his best friend. You became a hero in not just one, but two sets of eyes.’: Mom thanks daughter for being ‘hero’ to sibling with autism
‘He looks directly into my eyes, and behind his gaze, I see everything he can’t yet say. No amount of syllables strung together could ever recreate that magic.’: Mom to nonverbal son with autism gushes ‘our love will never need words’
“I don’t need words to catch the joy dancing behind Mason’s eyes when he sees me enter a room. I don’t need his voice to tell me he loves me when his warm embrace wraps around my neck. Our love has not, and never will, need words.”
‘He didn’t try to replace her dad. He came along, just when we thought we’d never feel joy again, and filled the unspeakable void in our hearts.’: Widow pens appreciation letter to bonus dad
“She didn’t have a dad anymore. A guy to love her no matter what, intimidate boys, or agree with her when mom was acting crazy. And then, just when I thought she was never going to feel joy again, along he came.”
‘Dad, I need help.’ I broke down in a fast food parking lot at 8 a.m., drunk from the change I scrounged together. I was taking 40 pills a day.’: Dad in tears walking sober daughter down the aisle
“I called my dad crying and told him the truth. I was living a secret life, raising a 4-year-old. Not once did he scold me or judge me. He came to my rescue.”
‘When will you make your own babies?’ I’ve never been pregnant, but I am a mother. She doesn’t have my skin color, but her little arms reached for me the very first time I called her name.’: Adoptive mom details emotional journey, ‘She is our Plan A’
“It didn’t happen the way we had imagined or planned, but she was always our Plan A. Every pain, every setback, every prayer was all worth it. She may not have my eyes, my hair, or my skin color, but she has my heart. I can’t imagine loving my little girl as anything less than a true daughter.”
‘My 4-year-old came running. ‘Ms. Susan is bleeding. I need Band-Aids!’ He was by her side the whole time.’: Mom details sweet friendship between son and neighbor, ‘I am blown away’
“Every morning he gets up, brushes his teeth, and asks, ‘Can I go by Ms. Susan’s house?’ When she goes out of town, he gets upset and says, ‘She’s been gone for too long!’ She is the perfect best friend and neighbor my little boy could ask for.”
‘I turn to walk away and she’s already crying. At 4 months old, she is realizing we are two separate people. Until now, she and I were one and the same.’: Mom shares candid reality of 4-month-old
“She came into this world only knowing our shared existence. At 4 months, she is learning her sun, moon, and stars…can just walk away. She only has one thing—a deep trust and faith I will come when she calls. As long as my arms, my chest, and my presence are where she finds peace and security, she shall have them.”
‘I wanted her approval. Ever since we met, she’s been amazing. We’re not a group of friends. We’re two sets of parents, killing the co-parenting game.’: Step-mom says co-parenting says is a ‘blessing’
“‘They are basically our family, so we might as well embrace it!’ Five days in to their visit, and it has been better than I expected, and so good for the soul. It has just felt so easy integrating our families. I look forward to making many more memories!”
‘A woman on the bus kept pointing at Meriton and touching me on the back. ‘Is he sick?’ She was loud and kept repeating herself.’: Woman urges ‘there is no cure for human being’
“The whole time I was trying to show Meriton we are equal, something was missing. I got a tattoo of a chromosome and said, ‘This will make us equally different, forever.’ The only sickness in life is the bad attitude towards people with special needs, and I’m not going to stop working to show society different.”
‘I took out the trash to ‘investigate’ our new neighbors. We watched the dreaded moving truck from the second-story window.’: Two moms find new friendship during quarantine
“While I was loading my kids into our car, the other kids made eye contact. They stood there, silently staring like it was some sort of old western stare-off. The dreaded moving truck was parked outside. In a matter of a month, our children’s childhood changed for the better.”
