“The silence was deafening. I felt the weight of her as they placed her in my arms. She was a little over 4 pounds. She was beautiful. We held her and had pictures taken with her. Then a couple of days later, we left the hospital with a box instead of our daughter.”
‘I cried, ‘I can’t do this. I want to stop.’ I had to deliver my daughter knowing I’d never hear her cry.’: Woman delivers rainbow baby sister after losing daughter to Mosaic Trisomy 15
The Five Undeniable Stages Of Grieving
“No matter what you are grieving – a relationship, job, diagnosis, death, etc. – you will go through all these stages.”
‘As I rinsed my car, a man from behind placed a knife at my throat. Hand over my mouth, he dragged me to the floor of his car, forcing handcuffs around my wrists.’: Kidnapping, sexual assault survivor urges ‘there is abundant life after trauma’
“19 years old, I’d found a part-time job waiting tables at a local Olive Garden for the summer. One blistering hot day in July, I dropped a coworker off at work, looking forward to her shift ending so we could go out dancing. I had no idea my life was about to be turned upside down.”
‘My high was our son’s milestones, your high has was a piercing hot needle into a vein. I couldn’t save you.’: Special needs mom pens letter to ex-husband battling addiction
“I only had enough room on my life raft for our son. Caring for an addict and a child with severe special needs was not something I could do. You needed to help yourself first, before I could help you.”
‘He had every opportunity to leave. I went from perfectly healthy to crippled, mentally and physically. Instead, he got down on one knee. ‘Will you marry me?’: Woman thanks husband for unconditional love during Chronic Lyme Disease battle
“I don’t remember the rehearsal dinner. I took a nap between the ceremony and reception. After a month of treatment, I rallied to walk down the aisle. Our love was stronger than the forces pulling me down.”
‘I woke up on my wedding day to the phone ringing. ‘Come down right away!’ It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t fate.’: Twice widowed woman recounts sudden losses of fiancés, ‘There’s no shame in grieving’
“I remember a deafening silence and then a loud scream, ‘MIKE!!!’ I ran until I collapsed and heard the sirens.”
‘Snap out of it, Christina! This will end, they will go back to school.’: Special needs mom gives advice for stages of grief, ‘Just make it to acceptance’
“Those first few weeks, I feel like we were all in denial. I know I was. My practical self found its way to bargaining. I’m not going to lie, I did convince my wife to let us get the trampoline. Give yourself a little grace.”
‘I ignored my trembling. ‘It’s rare and mainly ends in heart failure.’ I lost count of ‘friends’ who vanished.’: Woman with Friedreich’s Ataxia graduates law school despite prejudice, ‘I’m no longer ashamed’
“When I was a teenager, I noticed balance issues that worsened over time and left me confused. I knew it was more than clumsiness. I wasn’t able to walk in a straight line, wear high heels, or dance without falling. I was told, ‘There is no treatment in sight.’ I isolated myself, ashamed of what was happening. I started to give up hope. It took FIVE years to get answers.”
‘I knew FA was present, but I refused to acknowledge it — to protect my heart and my free spirit.’: After years of denial, woman embraces mobility aid and life with a rare genetic disease
“I never talked about FA with friends, classmates, or professors. I exhausted myself doing so much walking around campus, attempting to keep up and pretend everything was ok. I had tunnel vision; walking on my own was all I cared about… until I had no choice.”
‘What? No hands?’ The Universe chose me to be Ivy’s mom.’: Mother learns of daughter’s limb difference, refuses terminating pregnancy because ‘she was ours to love, protect’
“Missing both forearms and hands. This felt like a punch to the gut. It stole my breath. My husband firmly, passionately said to me, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do to take care of her. I’ll build her anything. I want her. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life.’ He was right. She saw me and said, ‘Yes. I want her. I want HER to be my mommy.’”
