“I found out Mom was going to die. As I walked away from the hospice, I knew my life had changed. After her death, I had to foster a new relationship with my dad. Then came another bombshell. My entire family was dead before I turned 30.”
“My cancer is back.’ Then came the next bombshell. My entire family was dead before I turned 30.’: Daughter grieves loss of parents, ‘Running from grief isn’t the solution’
‘Your kids gaze up, ever so confused. ‘Who was that, mama?’ ‘Oh, just someone I used to know very well, baby.’ I will never take this place for granted.’: Woman urges ‘home is still waiting for you’
“Your friends, the ones you bump into unexpectedly then can’t wait to tell your mom about. ‘You won’t believe who I saw today…’ You forgot how much old friends meant. How much they still mean. Home. A place where we spend our youth running from it and our adulthood trying to recreate it. It’s still there, you know. Waiting for you and waiting for your children, too.”
‘As they rolled her away, she said, ‘Mama, hold my hand.’ I can’t go with her. I lost it.’: 3-year-old with kidney disease, stage IV liver cancer gets ‘second chance’ from organ donor
“The waiting was the hardest part. Watching your child deteriorate, lose their hair, weight, and energy while you sit back hopelessly forever changes you as a person. ‘They found a match.’ I knew she had a fighting chance to survive.”
‘We left home on our bikes and didn’t return until the street lights came on. Growing up as a kid in the 80s totally prepared me for this.’: Mom encourages kids to have 80s-style independence
“When I was a kid in the 80s, we lived a very different life. We had lives our parents never really knew about. I didn’t grow up with someone micro-managing my childhood.”
‘I remember one Christmas telling Daddy I was probably too old for dolls and he said, ‘You wouldn’t want just one more?’: Bonny shares childhood memories thanks to StoryWorth
“I went over to the bushes by the road, got down on my knees, and asked God to help me win. We then began our race. I knew the odds were stacked against me. A child’s imagination is a special gift.”
‘SURGERY? I’m not letting anyone cut me open.’ The doctor pointed out things protruding from my back.’: Woman endures 7-hour scoliosis surgery, ‘I’m happy to say I came out on top’
“I immediately started crying. Why would God decide to make my spine curvy and my back ugly and cause me to have to go through this? This could be my last backflip into the pool. This could be my last time flipping around at the trampoline park.”
‘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.”
‘I was called an ‘ugly spotted dog.’ Some of the players refused to touch my hands.’: Woman embraces Bathing Trunk Nevus, ‘I was born to stand out’
“At least 80 percent of my body is covered in birthmarks. My mother told people they were ‘angel kisses.’ Sometimes I’d think, ‘What if I looked normal?’ But what is normal? I was born to stand out.”
‘I was struggling to gasp for air, peeing blood. I heard doctors yell, ‘Code Blue!’: Former NFL cheerleader survives difficult childhood, daughter’s Angelman Syndrome diagnosis
“At some point during contractions, she decided she didn’t want to be pregnant anymore. She hit her stomach a few times. I came out with a broken shoulder, black and blue on one side of my body, and a large hematoma on my head.”
‘Food was for ‘growing boys.’ I would take an empty lunch box to school so I looked like I fit in.’: Woman overcomes lifetime of eating disorders, ‘I love me for me’
“I was a talented singer, but because of my looks, I was never picked for the lead. I wasn’t the pretty leading lady in Mary Poppins – I was a chimney sweep. One year, I was asked to sing for the lead role but stand in the wings out of sight, while another person acted.”
