“I was sitting in my room doing homework. His ex-girlfriend called. He was caught red handed. He drove to my house with flowers and sobbed. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m just so insecure because you’re so out of my league – I got nervous and cheated.’ I was so angry. My relationship was destroying my family. Nevertheless, I went to Disney with him anyway. I stood in the middle of Magic Kingdom crying, alone and terrified.”
‘Wow, he really cares about me.’ His scheme to butter me up to lose his virginity worked.’: Domestic violence survivor reveals she’s been ‘scared to speak my truth’ for years, but finally realizes ‘I’m stronger for what I’ve been through’
‘You will never become anything,’ my doctor said. I was going stone-cold deaf. ‘What now?’: Woman loses hearing to infection, vows ‘deafness will not define me’
“As a young girl, there were signs. I literally danced to my own beat, mispronounced words. I spent years humiliated, called to stand up in front of classmates and speak the language I couldn’t hear. On one test in particular, I completely bombed the oral exam, tears streaming down. ‘I thought you didn’t want to be labeled as different,’ my teacher said. That was the final straw.”
‘At 13, there was blood on the counter, a strange calm on my mom’s face. She tried to get help.’: Woman candidly shares effects of mother’s suicide, reminds us ‘healing comes in waves’
“I’ve been to my mom’s grave twice. In 20 years. You won’t find a single photo of her in my home. I know this wasn’t her fault. It doesn’t change the effects her illnesses have had on me. None of it changes that her 60th birthday is not a birthday at all, because she is dead. I want to honor her, I really do. But I can’t face the woman who tried to break me.”
‘Please! I’m pregnant!’ My front door kicked open. There, in my living room, stood a man with a gun.’: Woman loses baby to stomach gunshot wound in robbery, ‘I spent 8 beautiful days on Earth with her’
“Suddenly, I heard a gunshot and felt intense pain in my stomach. I couldn’t feel my baby moving anymore. The last thing I remember, I was being wheeled in for an emergency c-section, all eyes on me. When I finally saw my daughter, I could tell she was fighting. In my arms, her body started to fade to purple. ‘When you finally say enough is enough, she will be put to rest.’ Still, I held her through each breath. I was at a complete loss of words.”
‘Pull over.’ My husband was next to us at the light. I made eye contact with him. He followed us.’: Wife ‘relieved’ to come clean about ‘living a lie,’ realizes she’s the one who needed to change in marriage
“I got a message on social media from the guy I had dated and lost my virginity to as a teenager. I hadn’t talked to him in a decade. At first, it started out with us just catching up. I enjoyed the friendship and connection. In the beginning, that’s all it was. It breaks my heart to write these words. Something had to give. Something had to change.”
‘I screamed, ‘We have guys trapped!’ I crawled out and ran while being burned alive.’: Man describes ‘pain, misery’ after surviving life-threatening burns working as firefighter
“The driver accidentally veered off the road. We crashed into a steep ravine, and were engulfed in flames. I immediately knew, I’d have to run through the fire and get burned. I chose to run. I crawled up the ravine and ran as fast as I could, screaming for my buddies. Sadly, my buddies never made it.”
‘Your family is better off without you. You are incompetent, unworthy, and a failure.’: Mom experiences severe depression, says treating it doesn’t make you ‘weak’
“This wasn’t your regular mom-loses-her-crap-sometimes type of situation. I was completely defeated and demoralized. I would snap at them for almost no reason. My kids started apologizing every time they asked me a question because they were worried I was going to get upset for bothering me. I didn’t feel like I needed help. I was wrong.”
‘I’ve read your letter. Don’t worry, we’ll get through this.’ It actually meant, we’ll try to ‘fix’ you.’: Young trans man finds ‘strength’ and ‘identity’ while transitioning from female to male
“‘I am upset I won’t be able to walk my daughter down the aisle like I’d always hoped.’ They asked, ‘Why can’t you just be a butch lesbian?’ My great grandmother’s response when I walked in was, ‘Oh isn’t he handsome!’ All she wanted was to make sure I was happy. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.”
‘Stop telling moms they ‘have no excuse’ to not be skinny. Being in shape doesn’t mean I’m a better person.’: Mom claims we shouldn’t ‘feel pressured to punish our bodies’
“Oh, you lost all your baby weight and started exercising 2 weeks after giving birth? Great, but I just gave birth and my vagina in still swollen and bleeding. You have 3 kids and wake up at 4 a.m. to exercise? Impressive, but sometimes depression means I’m just trying to get through the day without giving up on life.”
‘No one can take this pain away, so I must take it away myself. Lay me next to my daughter.’: Mom speaks candidly of ‘suicidal thoughts’ in wake of stillbirth, ‘I wouldn’t wish this on anyone’
“There are no visible wounds, but the pain courses through my entire being. I breathe in through my nose, blow out of my mouth. I’m alive, but being alive without my daughter hurts. I can’t wipe the tears away. It’s too much effort. I can’t move, even if I wanted to. I don’t want to pee. Eat. Shower. Brush my teeth. I see my dad’s face, and he wants me here. To hold on. To live.”
