“My ex and I got into an argument. I remember looking at him, and it hit me. I was looking at a stranger. I didn’t know who I was. I pleaded for God to give me a sign. Moments later, I heard sirens. I knew they were coming to our house. I looked out the window and saw 2 firetrucks screeching to a stop. I ran downstairs as fast as I could towards the pounding on the door. Before I could get a word out, the man told me, ‘We got a call that someone has overdosed.'”
‘The look on his face told me everything. He said 3 letters that changed my life. ‘D.O.A.’ Dead on arrival.’: Young woman feels ‘overwhelming guilt’ after roommate dies from heroin overdose, finally gets clean
‘Mom, I’m gay.’ I was crying so loudly. ‘So what? You’re my son. Nothing is going to change.’: Man loses mother to heart attack, wishes he ‘thanked her for her words’
“It was Christmas time. I’d just finished getting my tree and laid down when my brother called. ‘Mom passed.’ Time stopped. Silence. I instantly threw up. The next day, I drove home. The first thing I saw was her pile of presents. She’d wrapped them and when she finished, she sat down and never got up again. I wish I could’ve thanked her, told her how much her words meant to me. I thought I had more time but, out of nowhere, time ran out.”
‘I’m not an addict, but I was addicted to trying to fix one. If you’re lucky, they recover. If you’re really lucky, you recover, too.’: Woman learns firsthand that loving one with addiction will ‘consume you’
“You will stand in their bedroom and plead that you ‘just want them back’. If you watch the person you love disappear right in front of your eyes, you will start to dissolve too. Those not directly affected won’t understand. It is not the person who uses, but the addiction. And yet, sadly… it is not the addiction that dies, but the person.”
‘The Flash doesn’t wear a seat belt. I’m The Flash, mama.’ He unbuckled. A large rock rolled into my lane.’: Mom loses son in tragic car accident, urges parents to ‘hold your babies tight’
“The rock hit my axle and sent us plummeting into the side of a cliff. With all my might, I tried to lift the heavy van off my son’s tiny body, but he was already gone. People commented how horrible of a mom I was. How I deserved it. I wanted to shake them, tell them how hard I fought to save him. That he held my hand with his little fingers, and told me I was the best mama ever. But no one would have listened anyway.”
‘I was 32 when my husband suddenly died. I wanted to have children with him. Being without him is terrifying.’: Widow finds the ‘beautiful balance of life after loss’ with 2-year-old son
“A counselor I met with looked at me and asked this simple question. ‘Would Albert want you to grieve with fear, or grieve with hope?’ I immediately knew the answer. As I sat there on the couch, tears streaming down my face, I knew I needed to live. Just because Albert died, doesn’t mean I have to as well. That would be the last thing he would want me to do.”
‘My daughter died laughing.’: Woman’s 14-year-old daughter dies from helium inhalation, now raises awareness about ‘the hidden dangers of helium’
“Ashley was extra bubbly that morning. She said goodbye, we told her we loved her. Her stepfather said, ‘Be careful. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’ She was off to her friend’s house for a birthday slumber party. Everything was fine, until our phone rang. It was a police officer. ‘Is Ashley your daughter? Meet us at the hospital.’ This would be the beginning of a tragic night full of mistakes made by both adults and minors.”
‘When she left for Heaven, my mom felt she didn’t leave us with much. She apologized, wishing she had more to give us, a fancy house or nice car.’: Daughter hopes late mother knows she left her with ‘more than she could have ever dreamed’
“She said sorry so many times in the end that I lost count of how often she mentioned it. I wish I would have stopped right there in the middle of all that chaos that death brings and all the stress and regret that comes with it, and just grabbed her hand.”
‘I only bought 2 backpacks instead of 3. I naively thought I was ready. But grief proved me wrong.’: Mom feels ‘paralyzed’ while back-to-school shopping after losing son to drowning accident
“I let down my guard, slammed with the sudden realization he is gone. My daughters stood on the edge of the balcony and watched as the world ended, watched as their parents begged to trade places with their little brother. He slipped away from us, down a spiral staircase, and fell into the pool.”
‘I was 41 weeks pregnant, upside down in a ditch, holding my husband’s hand as he stopped breathing.’: Woman ‘T-boned by drunk drivers’ on the way to deliver baby, loses ‘love of her life’
“We were on our way to the hospital to deliver our baby. ‘Babe, I’m really excited!’ I looked up. We were going through a green light. Then we were hit. Everything went numb. I tried to unbuckle my seat belt, but it was jammed. I had no way of getting out. My water broke. My husband just lay beside me, lifeless. I held his hand the entire time.”
‘Yes, my mom died. No, I haven’t gotten over it.’: Grieving daughter frustrated by ‘how quickly people disappear’ after mother’s sudden death to stage 4 cancer
“My mom died. The food came rolling in. The cards. The visitors. The calls and texts. People bombard you. Too much even. Everyone wants to ‘be there for you.’ But the frustrating part? Everyone wants to be there, all at once, at the beginning, and then they all leave.”
