“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.”
‘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’
‘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, ‘You will survive. 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.”
‘Wait. Are those police lights? I walked closer to the intersection. ‘What happened?’ I grabbed an officer. ‘Ma’am. What is your name?’ I answered. Silence.’
“He grabbed the remote and asked if I wanted something to eat. I said I could throw something in the oven for us. However, he wanted something from the store. ‘Fine, but just take the car, boo,’ I whined. ‘Babe, let me be a man,’ he smirked as he closed the door. It shouldn’t have taken him more than 30 minutes. Where was he?”
‘MOM! Something is wrong with Dad, he’s on the floor!’ My 14-year-old son was frantic. Only 30 minutes prior, we were laughing about the fact my husband didn’t meet us at the pool.’
“We assumed his game of beach volleyball with our son wore him out, and he was tired and laid down for a quick rest. Little did we know those moments after his shower, he lay on the bathroom floor of our rental house; alone.”
‘He was out at a restaurant with my brother. The next morning, my entire life was over. ‘Caroline. He’s not breathing.’ I snapped back, ‘What are you talking about?’: Widow learns to grieve with her daughters after husband unexpectedly ‘died in his sleep’
“Someone I love dearly timidly asked, ‘Did he do those things regularly?’ I considered keeping his secret. I chose not to disclose WHY he died. I told people, tight-lipped, ‘He died in his sleep.’ I held onto the shame and guilt. ‘I’ll do this for you,’ I thought.”
‘He had the Stanford medical degree, not me. I trusted him. Aren’t we supposed to believe the doctor? I was home alone when I got the call.’: Woman receives unexpected cancer diagnosis after colon surgery fallout
“I decided that day I was going to take my life. I knew I couldn’t survive chemotherapy and breast cancer alone, and I was too prideful to really ask for help. I decided killing myself would do my family and friends a favor. I was a liability, not an asset. I had gone from being a thriving mother, model and athlete to a sickly woman needing constant care. My life had crumbled.”
‘Don’t you remember me?’ He looked at me like I was crazy. ‘No I’m sorry, I don’t.’: Woman encounters police officer who ‘saved her life’ years later
“He said to me, ‘I’m sorry I had to arrest you, I was just doing my job.’ I told him, ‘It’s okay, I understand now that you may have saved my life that day.”
