“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.”
‘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
‘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.’”
‘My innocence was taken by a 19-year-old. We jumped into a ‘relationship.’ I let him take me into bed because ‘My innocence was already taken. Why did I need to pretend like I had it?’
“I felt like I was important and loved. A few months later, my mom took me to the doctor. I was pregnant, at 15 years old. He hit me in the back of my head multiple times but he took me to Taco Bell after, so he still loved me. Where else would I go anyway?”
‘While he’s so young, I want him to remember me. So he can be sure how very much I love him.’ Dying mother leaves gifts, notes behind for her son through his 21st birthday
“Personal effects like my notepads – so he can see what my writing was like. Or the perfume he helped pick out for me earlier this year so he’ll remember my smell.”
The 5 Stages of Crazy When Kids Are Up Late
“Last night, my husband and I made the mistake of leaving the house after dinner.”
