“‘Yes, of course baby.’ I lit a few candles, got some orange juice and apples to snack on, and turned on music. He quickly calmed down, finding peace in whatever was going on in his little mind that I struggled to understand. I sat in the hallway, my head in my hands in tears. We all need a break at times, even our children.”
‘Can I take a candle bath and listen to soft music?’ My boy had a tough day at school. ‘Of course, baby.’: Mom learns children need mental breaks too, ‘we forget our kids need their own self-care’
‘Watch what you eat. Work harder in the gym.’ I started purging. To be better means to be smaller.’: Young woman overcomes eating disorder, uses her recovery to help other young women change their way of thinking
“‘I feel fat’ was one of my most commonly used phrases growing up. Most people worry about zits and grades, I was worried about staying alive. ‘You didn’t fight for so long to just give into the eating disorder now.’ Six months later, a woman walked into the store. She lit up. ‘Oh it’s you, you helped my daughter!’ I had no clue who she was. ‘My daughter is the one you talked to six months ago!’ Not only was she doing better, but she was ready to share her story ‘like the girl in Lawrence.’ How proud it made me.”
‘It is ok darling girl, mummy and daddy love you.’ She took her last breaths in our arms.’: 10-month-old baby girl dies from incurable brain condition Miller Dieker Syndrome, ‘She had a life well lived’
“My husband said, ‘We want our baby to feel the sun on her cheeks, the wind in her hair, the love all around her.’ And she really did. Lily’s smiles are the best thing I will ever see in my lifetime. I know that. We cuddled her until she was gone. I was sobbing, crying out, ’my baby, my baby!’ We bathed her and spent one last night together. She looked so peaceful, like she was sleeping.”
‘A stranger came to the rescue. An older gentleman parked in front of the wrecked vehicle, standing in the storm.’: Woman shocked by stranger’s act of kindness, ‘this was an act of true heroism’
“I was able to clear my windshield long enough to witness the most brave act of service. I drove by in awe. A man willing to risk his own safety to safeguard someone he didn’t even know.”
‘What’s that? It could be something sinister. You might have a tumor.’ I got fired for being ill.’: Young woman diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome after countless tests, ‘I was getting sicker and sicker, but with no answers’
“I was sobbing in bed one night angry at God. ‘Why won’t you take the pain away?!’ I had worked so hard despite being unwell, pushing myself to achieve. I got the grades to study music, my true passion, but was too unwell to go! I was gutted. The emergency doctor uttered the word ‘stroke.’ I was in disbelief. I was only 19 years old.”
‘May I hold him?’ He looked as if he was taking a nap, his face sweet like an angel. His body was cold.’: 3-year-old boy tragically drowns while celebrating at grandparents’ lake house, ‘This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening’
“‘Momma, Levi fell in the water.’ I expected to turn and see him splashing. He wasn’t. The minute I saw his face, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. ‘This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening.’ I had to fight. Water was coming out and his belly was full. I breathed in his mouth. I heard a voice from a man off the water say, ‘don’t blow too hard – it could hurt him,’ so I turned him on his side. I couldn’t give up on my baby.”
‘I have breast cancer.’ I said on the operating table. The nurse wiped my tears. ‘I know. And we have you.’: Mom diagnosed with breast cancer 6 hours before giving birth to first child, ‘This baby saved my life’
“I sat in my 38-week OB appointment. I’d been told the lump in my breast was fibrous, and we’d watch it. But I knew differently. I felt it in my bones. I asked her to feel the lump. Her face said everything. My doctor called and said, ‘kiddo.’ I heard cancer, and my eyes became gushers. My husband held me. ‘Just cry. Just cry.’ Hours later, I was giving birth to my daughter. She saved my life.”
‘Are you sure he isn’t cold?’ His swim instructor constantly asks, concerned over his very blue lips.’: Mom emotionally recalls son’s severe heart disease operation, ‘I know every angel was watching over him’
“I had planned my son’s funeral. I had cried brutally painful tears which turned to moans because I had none left. That day, my life changed. I thought I had witnessed miracles in the past, but those were just test runs and rehearsals for this moment. I know when the anesthesiologist said, ‘We’ll treat him as our own,’ she meant it.”
‘Private conversations are not to be confused with public gossip. A good friend is hard to come by.’: Mom’s candid advice on adult friendships, ‘If you have one, hang on tight. Life is easier when you find your people.’
“Mean Girls is so 2004. It is not funny to exclude people on purpose. It is not cute to be nice to someone’s face and tear them apart the minute they leave the room. If you do it to others, it’s only a matter of time before you turn on me. Nice people are my kind of people.”
‘That’s it, I’m moving out!’ It wasn’t a teenager yelling. It was me.’: Mom reaches her ‘breaking point,’ urges we’re ‘allowed to lose it sometimes’
“I just crack and act like a maniac. I yell ridiculous things at my people, get pushed to the Breaking Point. And once I’m there, I feel terrible for losing it. It doesn’t mean we’re bad people, just human ones.”
