“Please do not complain about having to wear a mask around my baby. YOU DO NOT KNOW unless you’ve had a pandemic baby.”

‘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

‘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.”

‘The priest said, ‘He can’t be buried. He wasn’t married here.’ That just about killed Grandpa Donovan.’: Man details memories of late grandparents thanks to StoryWorth
“I had a catering appointment one night in the area, so I stopped by to see him. His wife Paria answered the door. ‘Is Uncle Joe here?’ She responded, ‘Well, he is and he isn’t. He might have gone to the store.’ She had packed him into the bedroom because he was drunk, but I didn’t realize that until much later.”

‘Your grandma has spiked a fever.’ ‘The nursing home was hit with COVID-19. My fierce, stubborn 98-year-old Italian little woman of a Nana fell victim.’: Woman mourns grandma lost to Covid-19, ‘Today Nana left us and my heart is broken’
“Telling my Nana my life wasn’t going to be what she expected, as I’d met the person I intended to marry and it was not a ‘he,’ was the most difficult moment of my life. I watched her heart break in front of me, fully aware I was the cause. Years later, at my wedding, she looked at me and said, ‘The LGBTQ community is the happiest group of people I’ve ever been part of.’ Today, Nana left us. My heart is broken.”

‘When I was 12, something called coronavirus ripped through our country. It was so scary.’ She takes a moment to shake her head at the memory of it all.’: Mom imagines grandchildren’s questions about the quarantine, ‘It was the happiest time of my life’
“‘People were dying. There weren’t enough ventilators, or masks. Big cities were hit very, very hard,’ she says. She hesitates for a second, thinking back to this faraway time. ‘I think it changed us. It changed our country. It made us better.’”

‘You’re asking me to take in a 15-year-old teenager who is about to give birth?’ This is not what we signed up for.’: Couple become grandparents at 35, ‘She made our life better’
“’She’s due in 3 weeks and has nowhere to go. Would you guys please take her?’ We can’t do this. On the other hand, how could I say no? This young girl was just desperate for a mom, her mom, and she was getting me instead.”