“I was awakened for the next three nights at 3 a.m. by the bright light of her cell-phone in my face, highlighting the picture of a puppy. ‘Please?’ she begged. In a moment of grief, I felt called to act.”
‘We have a kitten with no eyes.’ He looked like a mini Frankenstein monster. Instantly, we became advocates.’: Couple shares animal rescue missions, ‘I never planned to own my own personal zoo’
‘I TOLD you, I’m blind. I can’t anymore.’ His response surprised me. ‘So?’ My new life began.’: Man shares journey learning to live visually impaired, ‘Fail, get up, keep moving forward’
“I biked into the back of a parked car. There was a group of people on the other side of the street laughing. I thought to myself, ‘I knew this would happen, you don’t belong on a bike anymore.’”
‘I think I’m going to die.’ My body was shutting down. If I closed my eyes, they wouldn’t open again.’: Chronic illness warrior battling Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome says ‘hope keeps us alive’
“I went into the hospital, screaming how intense the pain was. The staff took my parents out of the room to ask, ‘Is she pretending to be ill for attention?’ I thought once I was diagnosed, all this would change.”
‘Are you ready to meet him?’ He was born addicted to methadone. I didn’t know what to expect. The moment I saw him, I knew he was my son.’: Couple battling infertility for 7 years share adoption journey
“Each pregnancy announcement was more and more heartbreaking. It felt like we weren’t meant to be parents. Our attorney called, ‘She’s interested in talking to you.’ We were beyond shocked.”
‘Am I going to get sick?’ I lived in fear of myself and what people thought of me. I started ripping my hair out.’: Woman shares struggles with Borderline Personality Disorder, ‘It gets so much better’
“I found myself missing school daily. I’d wake up, feel a little sick, and have a full-blown panic attack. Panic attacks made me hate every second of my life. I wanted to end it all.”
‘The pamphlet said, ‘Life expectancy, 30 years. ‘That’s NOT me.’ My parents raised me to be FEARLESS.’: Cystic Fibrosis warrior shares journey, ‘I live on my own terms’
“My parents were told, ‘You probably won’t see his 20th birthday.’ I was in complete shock, fear ran through me. But I live with a ‘NO EXCUSE’ attitude.”
‘What about the birth parents?’ We were gaining HER, too. We had no morning sickness or ultrasounds. THIS was the plan.’: Mom shares adoption journey, ‘She’s brought more joy than we ever thought possible’
“When we finally saw her, I was in awe. We couldn’t just gloss over the trauma our newborn felt. Adoption is full of celebration for the love of a child, but it is also full of pain, loss, and grief.”
‘An idea popped into my head which sounded CRAZY.’ ‘You are going to ruin your daughter’s life!’: Single mom builds loving home in van, ‘I want us to truly LIVE’’
“We don’t have NEARLY enough time on this planet to just waste our lives on what society says is the way to live.”
‘Would you be open to picking up a 2-day-old baby girl?’ I’ll never forget my husband’s response. ‘I think this is the baby we’ve been praying for.’: Pregnant mom opens heart to fostering, adopts after ‘humbling’ 798 days
“If you asked me if I’d care for a newborn while 30 weeks pregnant, I’d have thought you were crazy. I’d sit at night, feeding our foster daughter while feeling our little girl wiggling around in my belly. We’d been praying for her years before she was even born.”
‘Dad and I are still friends.’ It was absolutely gut-wrenching. We were determined to beat the statistics. We could still be great parents together.’: Mom shares co-parenting journey, ‘We’re one family, full of love’
“I was devastated at the thought of being just another set of young parents who couldn’t make it work. We were still raising a child together. Four adults opened their hearts to ensure this little boy never felt like he was missing out.”
