“This was her first birthday party. We had over 30 guests waiting downstairs to celebrate her. I couldn’t go down. I only had one thought: ‘This day is a celebration of everything she can’t do.’ In my closet, I huddled in a ball, trying to find my brave face. We were already 3 months into speech and physical therapy. We’d seen all 3 specialists and were no closer to an answer.”
‘Will you excuse me?’ The cake smash was ready. Except, I was in my closet, crying uncontrollably.’: Mom breaks down at daughter’s first birthday party, discovers Cri Du Chat diagnosis
‘Can I call you mom?’ Nothing prepares you for it. My heart hit my feet.’: Foster mom ‘not expecting’ this to happen so soon, but promises ‘you won’t regret it’
“And then friends, it happened again. 6:24 p.m. loading into the bus, my husband was helping the littles into the back. I was in the driver’s seat when I heard it… ‘Can I call you dad?’ I sunk into the seat with the biggest smile while I held my breath, waiting to hear my husband’s response.”
‘I wasn’t playing games. 4 weeks after meeting, he asked me to marry him! I said yes. Then, I tried to break it off.’: Single divorced mom of 2 gets engaged to man she met after 4 weeks, ‘He is worth the risk of another heart break’
“I started to let fear creep into my mind. We came from two totally different worlds. Ryan was an Eagle Scout, never once touched drugs or alcohol, saved himself for his future wife… aka virgin. I was broken, just finished fighting cancer, recently divorced, teen mom, made so many mistakes. He seemed too good to be true. I thought, ‘Surely this will all end.'”
‘Take your son and I’ll find you, trust me, I’ll find you.’ He held a gun to me while pregnant.’: Mom learns ‘self-defense’ as black belt after ‘surviving’ domestic abuse, urges women to know there is ‘a better life’
“Then came my escape. It was tricky, but I planned it well. My father was dying of brain cancer, and my husband had beaten me for going to my father’s funeral. It was time. I finally had a chance to escape with my child. You are worth fighting for. I need to let others know – there is an escape, a better life.”
‘My daughter darted away in a crowded mall. There was no sign of her.’: Mom terrified after losing daughter in mall, reminds parents ‘how quickly a child can get away’
“I frantically asked a lady at a kiosk if she had seen my daughter. She looked up at me confused and asked how she got away. Where was I? Why wasn’t her dad watching her? I ignored her questions and told her to call security before I darted away. After an hour of me violently shaking, the guilt set in. The kiosk lady’s words began to repeat in my head.”
‘When they flinch from the stapler dropping, it’s because they weren’t sure if you’re throwing it at them.’: Foster mom pens powerful note to teacher warning of her children’s trauma
“They come from a really, really hard place. The kind of abuse you think can’t be real. They duck for cover. You’ve heard of fight or flight? There is also freeze. One of my kids responds with ‘freeze.’ Her eyes grow wide and her voice silences. It’s how she’s trained herself to survive. My kids need to know you are safe.”
‘He looked me straight in the eyes and muttered a single word: RUN.’: Crowd of thousands mistake popped water bottle for gunshot, woman claims mass shootings have us all ‘living in fear’
“I walked around the venue, trying to find a spot in the crowd. Then, we heard it. ‘GUN!’ Screams erupted. My friend and I shared a mutual look of terror before breaking into a sprint. Adrenaline carried us. Police officers ran towards us, guns pulled. ‘Keep your heads down!’ In the end? It was a popped water bottle. But I will remember it as if it were real because, in that moment, it was.”
‘This is crazy! We don’t have any pink hats left. This has NEVER happened before.’: Mom realizes signs from her dad in heaven were ‘loud’ throughout pregnancy with son
“Each patient gets a blue and a pink hat. She pulled out a blue one to hand to me. ‘It’s strange. There weren’t any pink ones in there. I don’t know if you believe in signs, but there’s no way the baby you’re carrying is a girl. Absolutely no way!’ I’ve only carried 4 girls. To me, there was no way this baby could be a boy. I wanted nothing more than to give my little brother we adopted a brother.”
‘3 months after our son’s death, I was unexpectedly pregnant again. We couldn’t believe it. We couldn’t fathom having another child.’: Mom says she was ‘destroyed’ after SIDS loss, but newborn daughter ‘saved me’
“We stood in a field having our gender reveal photos taken. I was 17 weeks pregnant. We shared our announcement photos. A year later to the day, he was gone. We said that was it, we were done. But, 11 months after he left this earth, his sister was due to arrive.”
‘I never thought I’d be calling my husband to inform him ‘it’s cancer.’ I sat on the phone in utter shock.’: 28-year-old woman diagnosed with breast cancer after noticing ‘blood stains in bra’
“I was too young to get cancer. There was no way. I was fit and healthy, currently in the best shape of my life training for a trip to Everest basecamp. I prepared my chemo bag. I was ready for this. But when I walked into the hospital and saw all the elderly ladies around me wearing head scarves, I instantly felt a fear I could not describe.”
