“I was dropping my son off at daycare. When we arrived, there was another little boy who’d just been dropped off by his mom. He couldn’t have been more than 3 years old. And he was wailing. This child was genuinely distressed. He wanted his mom very, very badly. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more in tune with another person’s emotion.”
‘I want my mom!!! I want my mom to come back!!!’ He was totally inconsolable. I’ve never felt more in tune with a person’s emotion.’: Daughter’s advice on getting through the holidays without your mother
‘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.”
‘I think I have heartburn.’ He winced, shook it off. ‘As long as it’s not my pancreas!’ We laughed, having no idea.’: Woman loses partner to pancreatic cancer, ‘I walked with him, through life and death’
“As the days passed, he couldn’t eat or sleep. Then came the shocking weight loss. This body I once knew was now all bones and sharp edges. I could see his ribs through his t-shirt. ‘We see a large mass,’ the doctor informed us. I cried silent tears. I could no longer touch any part of him, except his hands. Everything hurt too much. We were no longer laughing. We were hoping for one more day.”
‘Let it all go. Stop worrying about meaningless stressors. I swear you won’t be thinking of them when it’s your turn to go.’: Woman shares guide to happiness 24 hours before passing from cancer
“It’s a strange thing to accept your mortality at 26 years young. I imagined myself growing old and wrinkled, building a beautiful family with the love of my life. I want that so bad it hurts. Instead, I’m watching my body waste away right before my eyes with nothing I can do about it. All I wish for now is one more birthday, one more Christmas, with my family, partner, and dog. Just one more.”
‘Dad named me after one his ex-girlfriends. He kept it a secret from Mom for 30 years. I never knew.’: Woman discovers lifelong memories from dad’s ‘glory days’ after cancer diagnosis thanks to StoryWorth
“Until my father was diagnosed with lung cancer, I thought I knew about all of his biggest adventures. He grew up in a dirt-floor cabin in Appalachia; he became friends with a burgeoning country music star when he climbed a fire escape into their recording studio. He built my childhood home with his bare hands. I started having him write down his stories in his hospital room. Once he started, he never wanted to stop.”
‘Mrs. Cynthia, I want to have dark skin like you. Why is your skin so dark?’ My heart stopped.’: Mom urges talking to your children about differences after tender moment with Waffle House employee
“I should’ve known she was thinking about something by the way she stared with her eyebrows furrowed. But she didn’t say a word until Mrs. Cynthia came back to sit with us. I am usually able to stop my kids from asking these things out loud. I see their wheels turning, and I shush them before the words even escape their mouths. But my daughter was too fast, and I was left there, panicking.”
‘We need to make her soup so she feels better!’ I had to explain to my 5-year-old his sister was going to heaven.’: Mom loses daughter to Neuroblastoma, ‘we will never forget our brave, beautiful warrior’
“I watched her breathe so slowly. ‘It’s okay to go now. You won’t be in pain anymore.’ At 9:14 p.m. she took her last breath. Her brothers cuddled her one last time and said their final goodbyes. There’s something about seeing your 5-year-old carrying a tiny little casket that will break your heart and make you so proud all at the same time. He was always holding his little sister, even in death.”
‘We found a large tumor.’ No way I had TWO types of cancer. I saw the look on his face. I knew.’: Woman defeats odds of beating colon and thyroid cancer, ‘I have tears in my eyes. I survived.’
“They wheeled me back. With a smile on a face I yelled, ‘See you soon!’ The next thing I remember, I opened my eyes and was completely alone in a very dark room. With tears in his eyes he told me, ‘We found a large tumor.’ I was in a nightmare. Oh, no. It can’t be. Brave face Amanda, brave face. I had TWO types of cancer. Absolutely no way. ‘There is some bad news, however.’ There was more bad news? It was too much.”
‘Mama, can I see a counselor?’ My little is in 2nd grade, requesting therapy. She’s ‘having feelings.’: Widow learns to accept grief as positive, ‘these feelings reminds us it’s all real’
“It’s November 19 again. The ‘Deathaversary.’ The day I lost my husband, my kids their father. Mixed feelings of laughter, despair find me when I see a card my little one left on the junk table: ‘Deer dad, we all wish you could come back. A boy Luke likes me. I wish you could see him.’ I want these feelings to leave us the hell alone. And then again, I don’t. They keep him here with us.”
‘I became a crappy friend. My best friend got cancer. Instead of being a rockstar, I went MIA.’: Woman pens sweet letter to best friend who beat cancer after losing her mother
“My best friend showed up at my son’s birthday party and told me she had the same cancer that took my mom a year earlier. I was numb. Heartbroken. Clueless how to maneuver through grief, while also trying to support her. Sure, I sent cards and care packages. But I was MIA. Truth is, I was obsessively thinking about her. It’s taken a year to finally wake up.”
