“I never had positive male role models. Upon becoming a mother, my deepest wish was for my kids to have what I was missing. Good, strong men they could count on to care about them, invest in them, and help them become who they’re supposed to be. I never expected Master Cruz and Mr. Jose would stand in the gap.”
‘You’re my hero.’ Sometimes answered prayers don’t always look the way we thought they would.’: Mom thanks Taekwondo instructors for ‘standing in the gap’ for son
‘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.”
‘What happens to seniors who DON’T have family?’ I HAD to help them.’: Woman starts organization sending letters to seniors, ‘I make people smile’
“I am pretty sure my grandparents were looking down on me that day.”
‘In my day, they didn’t have all this autism and ADHD stuff.’ I wasn’t sure how they’d react to the news. It wasn’t something they grew up with.’: Mom to daughter with autism worries about ‘generational gap’ with grandparents, ‘You’re never too old to be educated’
“I braced myself for what I thought would be a skeptical, potentially offensive reaction from them. They were shocked and concerned, as I expected.”
‘How are you supposed to bring this baby into the world without his dad? We’ve never experienced something like this before.’: Pandemic mom shares plea for patience
“Please do not complain about having to wear a mask around my baby. YOU DO NOT KNOW unless you’ve had a pandemic baby.”
‘Your sister passed away.’ In a matter of years, I lost half my immediate family. This grief is not linear.’: Woman pens moving grief journey, ‘I live every day with authenticity’
“My cousin showed up at my house. Though her voice was calm when she arrived, I knew in that moment my sister was gone. Her death would be under investigation. She’d been struggling for months.”
‘Take photos with your grandparents, because one day, when the dust has settled and the years have gone by, those photos may be all you have left of them.’: Woman pens ode to grandparents
“In a culture where I never felt quite good enough for anyone, I was good enough for them. They loved me for me; in all my brokenness and in all my flaws, my grandparents loved every ounce of my being. None of us knew it at the time, but they saved me in more ways than I can count.”
‘My kids are not being ‘watched.’ They are spending quality time with grandma and papa. It takes a village to raise children.’: Mom admits ‘my parents teach my kids things I can’t yet’
“‘I could never let my kids be watched by someone else weekly!’ When I tell people my kids go for a sleepover once a week at their grandparents, they almost fall over and always end up shaming me.”
‘You are more special, because I CHOSE you to be my daughters.’ He elected 8 weeks of inpatient rehab, just to walk my sister down the aisle.’: Woman shares touching tribute to late father
“The moment he met us, he was in love. To him, we were his daughters, not his step-daughters. I’ll never forget the phone call. ‘Boys, go to your rooms. I need to talk to mom.’ I knew the look of anguish, though I’d never seen it on my husband’s face. ‘Your mom found your dad in the driveway. He had been out messing around in the yard.’ I crumbled.”
‘I was on the phone, ‘Mom, his symptoms really concern me,’ He protested a bit. ‘Let me sleep on it.’ I held my dad’s hand while he died.’: Woman loses father to Covid-19, ‘I’ll never forget the nurses and doctors’
“’Cheryl? Your dad is not going to make it through the night.’ The Nurse Practitioner on the other end was out of breath. ‘How do I get my mom there?’ She didn’t know. I held my dad’s hand while he died.”
