“I didn’t want to lay in bed for the rest of my life and give in to the depression. I still had life to live.”

‘I hobbled away from my 7th laser hair removal treatment, weeping. In less than an hour, my life was changed.’: Woman with chronic pain condition finds ‘purpose in the pain’

‘I noticed my daughter had a weirdly, rapidly progressing sunburn. We couldn’t figure out why, until we realized it wasn’t a sunburn.’: Mom shares PSA on harmful sunscreens
“I was so embarrassed I let this happen to my baby. This photo was taken 4 days after.”

‘Her skin was gone. I can still hear her scream while gasping for air. What exactly happened that day?’: Sister of burn survivor takes confidence-boosting photo shoot, ‘Her flaws don’t define her’
“He grabbed a toy cup, went over to the full pot of coffee, and pulled it down to pour into his toy cup. My baby sister’s seat was just below. You may or may not notice her scars when you see her.”

‘I’m doing the best I can,’ I said to my husband. I felt a tear hit my cheek. It was one of those nights.’: Woman reminds us to ‘be kind’ to exhausted mothers, ‘she is doing her absolute best’
“I was in pajamas by 4 p.m., my hair had questionable things in it, and I had on a stained sweater I probably should have washed a few days ago. My husband got home and walked in on me cooking burnt grilled cheese, for the third time. I threw my hands up in the air. ‘I give up!’ I thought I would be better at this whole mom and wife thing. But the truth is, I am doing my best.”

‘I wanted to tell you, we’ll be naming him after you.’ He replied, ‘Really?!’: Woman tells firefighter who saved her life 21 years ago she’s naming unborn child after him, ‘I can’t wait for them to meet’
“The room filled with smoke. ‘MOVE AWAY FROM THE DOOR.’ I saw a very dim light. ‘If you can see me, come towards the light.’ I passed out. He contacted me on the 17-year anniversary of the fire. At first, I thought it was a scam. ‘Hi Vanessa, this is the firefighter from 17 years ago. I think about you often.’ We owe our lives to him. I had to let him know our big news. I’m pregnant with a son, and he’ll soon have a namesake.”

‘You look like a snake. You’ll never get a boyfriend.’ I made up my mind the whole human race was beautiful, and I was ugly.’: Woman survives 4th degree burns after ‘hide and seek’ game gone wrong, learns to embrace unique beauty
“My friend invited me to a local nightclub. Before I knew it, I was dancing with someone and their hands were rubbing up and down my back. He whispered in my ear, ‘Are you wearing a corset?’ That scared the absolute life out of me. It was my scars, once a gaping hole through my back, and he could feel them through my clothing.”

‘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.”

‘When I was 13, my family and I moved into my mother’s ‘dream home.’ Just 8 months later, things would take a drastic turn.’
“It was a helpless day. We stood outside of our home knowing there was nothing we could do. At the end of the day, we had nothing but the clothes on our back.”

‘My dad wanted to be cremated. Then he died, and I didn’t know how badly those ashes would haunt me.’: Daughter ‘appalled’ by father’s ashes, keeps them ‘hidden away’ in plastic bag
“The idea crumbled me. Knowing he was at the crematory, and knowing it’d be his turn. Was I eating lunch when they loaded his body in? Was I nursing my twins? Even talking about this is so shameful. His ashes sit in a cupboard. I know they’re there. But I don’t want to see them.”

‘Look at my hand!’ Our son rushed over in panic. I became unglued with my realization. CITRUS BURNS’: Mom warns of citrus burn danger after prolonged sun exposure
“We went to Disneyland this week, and my son got 2nd degree burns on his hand and tummy. It was not from Disneyland, but it happened from being in the sun for long periods of time. 2nd degree burns. His hand is so swollen he can’t close it or use it.”