“I came home on party day, carrying in the snacks, which was my contribution to the big shing-ding. He met me at the door. ‘Close your eyes.’ I could tell by the eagerness in his voice he had something delightful to show me. ‘Watch your step.’ He led me into the living room. I imagined glitter abound, circus performers hanging from the chandelier, ballerinas leaping. I was dripping in anticipation. He took my hand, shuffled me to the center of the room. ‘Okay, open!’ And, I did. Nothing.”
‘No, don’t panic. He has a plan. Oh Lord, please let him have a plan.’ He led our daughter in, eyes closed. I gulped my wine.’: Widow recalls emotional birthday surprise late husband planned for their daughter, ‘I didn’t know I was crying until I reached up to wipe my face’
‘It’s day 721 of not seeing you. You aren’t something we can pack up, put in a box and label with a Sharpie. You are our son.’: Mom’s grief journey after losing military son, ‘I miss you’
“The lady at the thrift store bravely asked about how we were doing. And you know what? I didn’t lie. I didn’t say good. I thought, ‘Wow, it has been over 2 years. How can that be?’ I found your box of baby clothes and the blankets Grandma made you. You are everywhere here, and at times I don’t want to live in this place anymore.”
‘My daughter took her final breath. I felt a sudden surge of energy rush into my body. I carried her downstairs to the gurney.’: Grieving father recalls ‘hardest thing’ he’s ever done, ‘Sophia needed her Daddy one last time’
“When the funeral coordinator arrived, I gently picked Sophia up one last time. I carried her down the stairs to the gurney waiting for her. I made sure she was carefully secure as she was loaded into the van to the funeral home. I was lucky to be her daddy. I still have not grieved from watching my beautiful sweet girl die. I write her name in the shower on the glass with a big heart every day. It’s my way of remembering her.”
‘Are you scared?’ she asked. Breathless, I whispered to my mom, ‘No. It’s time to rally.’ I was so close to death.’: Woman with cystic fibrosis ‘in awe’ after gifted new lungs on verge of death, ‘the kindness of a stranger saved my life!’
“The meds had stopped working – time was running out. The call came at just the right time. I remember doubling over, nauseous with the news I’d just received: ‘They have a match for lungs.’ I needed to be transported to Boston IMMEDIATELY. I crouched down by my hospital bed, struck with the magnitude of the situation. As prepared as I was, nothing could get me ready for this moment. I couldn’t catch my breath.”
‘Oh thank God, one surgery and he’ll be back to normal.’ My dad was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. He was going to survive, no doubt in my mind.’: Daughter reflects on holidays without your dad
”A feeling came over me that my dad would not pass away if I was there. I was his little girl and he was my hero. 15 minutes later, he was gone. The first Christmas without my dad, I remember thinking, ‘Just smile.’ I also carried a water bottle with me everywhere, because my dad had once told me as a child, ‘if you drink water, you will calm down and not cry.”
‘Let go!’ he shouts, about MY OWN CHILD. He sweeps her up and starts shaking her up and down. He latches and won’t let go.’: Dad ‘livid’ after stranger’s encounter with daughter, ‘please ask for consent, women and children are not all access’
“My daughter immediately starts crying and is pushing his chest away with her little hands. I lean in to grab her and he takes a giant step back. ‘She’s so cute, isn’t she?’ At this point, my daughter is bloody murder screaming. Suddenly, this man, this STRANGER starts walking down the aisle with my baby towards another woman.”
‘If you can’t respect me and your Dad, don’t come to MY family’s Christmas celebrations.’ Pump the brakes, crazy lady.’: Woman ‘bitter’ over tumultuous upbringing, but learns to ‘forgive’ after all the hurt
“You married her when I was 3. I wasn’t at your wedding. I was maliciously sent to Chicago by my mother, just to get back at you. Remember that time you came to my Grandma’s and literally kidnapped me? Dragging me down the hill, kicking and screaming, you trying to hush me? I was 4. This is one of my earliest memories. Tragic. My kids don’t know you. But that seems to be a pattern in this family.”
‘She gets no sleep at all. She has no time for herself. She intentionally loses herself in him, so he knows he is loved.’: Husband pens sweet mom appreciation letter to ‘fierce’ wife, ‘no amount of pain keeps her from loving our son’
“Labor pains, breastfeeding, postpartum hormones. She looks at herself in the mirror, wondering if her body will ever look the same again. I thought I knew what motherhood entailed. Like most new dads, I only experienced it as an outsider. I saw my mother, sister, and friends do it. I got the gist of it. Or at least I thought I did. But what I didn’t know was how little I really knew.”
‘Well… It’s complicated…’ An old friend asked me if I was happy.’: Man who suffers from depression explains the difficult balancing act it can be
“I have a good marriage, a good family, a nice home, and a stable career. I went to college and I’ve published books. But that’s the thing with depression. It doesn’t care how good your life is. I think that’s one of the hardest things to explain.”
‘With perfect clarity, our 20-month-old looked up at us. ‘I love you.’ It was a miracle days before he passed.’: Father recalls tender moment son diagnosed with childhood cancer shocked parents, ‘Those words are forever etched in my memory’
“A miracle came just days before he passed away. At just 20 months old, our son had only verbalized one word. Dog. Yet, he responded to my wife and I as we laid over his crib, tears falling from our cheeks, expressing our love for him. With absolute perfect clarity, our little boy looked up at us. I held him for the last time. I crave his smile. I miss seeing his eyes light up.”
