“I grabbed two waters. The lady in front of me turned around, hands on hips, and told me I was enabling that ‘homeless person’ (with a sneer) and I shouldn’t be wasting my money on him. She proceeded to tell me I should be ashamed, that it should be illegal to beg for money and illegal to give money. I may have inadvertently started a revolution in the convenience store today.”
‘On the way to grab a water, I saw a homeless man sitting, red-faced and shaky. ‘Are you OK?’: Woman defends homeless man in ‘convenience store revolution’
‘I thought I looked good, but then I saw a picture of myself.’: Woman shares important reminder ‘you look good when your heart and soul feel good’
“It’s taken 34 years to realize…see yourself through the eyes of the person who snapped the photo of you.”
‘She’d walk into a room and shout, ‘Grammy’s here, have no fear!’ The woman was a force! Anywhere she went, she was the center of attention.’: Woman shares ode to fierce grandma battling Alzheimer’s
“The disease slowly took away her ability to form coherent sentences. But somehow, we always found a way to understand each other; love has a way of filling in the gaps. Gram is a force to be reckoned with.”
‘DON’T let it hurt him like it did your brother.’ I can still smell the hospital and hear him cry. My son would be SUCCESSFUL.’: Sister of brother with autism becomes single mom to special needs son
“I had a front-row seat to how the world treated my brother. I knew how cruel the system could be. He was constantly told he could not achieve his goals and desires, but he told the world, ‘Just watch me.’”
‘I saw something shiny and turned into Sméagol. ‘My precious!’: Wife hilariously recounts lost engagement ring, ‘This ring will come with one heck of a story’
“It was around 8 p.m. when I found myself crying and crawling, mostly crying, on my hands and knees in the middle of a Publix parking lot. I imagined the ring traveling the streets of Miami stuck on a tire thread.”
‘An older woman came up to me in Publix. ‘Wow, those boys are lucky to have been chosen by a white woman.’ I was shocked into silence.’: Foster mom to twins urges ‘we need to do better’
“I didn’t know how to respond. I just looked at her, shocked into silence. The night I got my foster twins, I knew our life would look different to others. I knew there would be stares. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the comments that would unfold.”
‘Right—THERE! MOMMY! NO! A CAR JUST SQUASHED IT!’ I pumped the brakes, started directing traffic. I was hyperventilating.’: Hero mom saves lizard
“‘Sir, can you take it to a hospital?’ He pulled his truck past me and tipped his hat. ‘Hail nawl, little lady. That thang is all on you.’ Pretty soon I was standing alone, next to my car, with a half-dead thing in a shoe box that was IN MY HANDS. I was hyperventilating. This was not okay.”
‘Who are you hiding from?’ I was forbidden from closing the door while I showered or used the restroom. I wasn’t daddy’s little girl anymore.’: Woman overcomes childhood abuse, ‘Your life is worth saving and fighting for’
“My dad was a dangerous man. After I was born, he endeared himself to me. ‘I’ve seen 100 girls like you,’ he said. He found my diary. He read it. Humiliated me. They tracked my periods. They would time how long it took me to walk from the bus stop to the apartment. I hid who I really was. I got smarter. I knew how long it took to go from the bedroom window to the front door, which I’d deadbolt when he left. I hid notes in menstrual pad packaging. I tell myself, ‘You tried to break me. You told me to kill myself. But YOU WON’T WIN.’”
‘His scheme to butter me up to lose his virginity worked. ‘Wow, he really cares about me.’: 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’
“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.”
‘Twelve hours after we were in the water, he woke up with a fever, chills and cramping. His legs started to hurt severely. The nurses had never seen anything like it.’ Daughter warns of flesh eating bacteria that took her father’s life
“They took him back immediately. As they were helping him get changed into his hospital gown, they saw this terribly swollen black spot on his back that was not there before. My mom sent me a picture of it, and it felt like someone sucker punched me. Flesh Eating Bacteria sounds like an urban legend. Let me assure you, it is not.”
