“I didn’t want to get up out of bed. I couldn’t function. All I wanted now was to be a momma on earth. I wasn’t interested in anything else.”
‘This is your baby’s way of waving a flag.’ Our whole world came crashing around us.’: Grieving mom welcomes rainbow baby
‘Dear woman in Target, I’ve heard it before. That I ‘spoil that baby.’ That she’ll never learn to be ‘independent.’ If only you knew.’: Mom urges ‘spoiling her is the most important job I’ll ever have’ after taking in abused orphan
“If only you knew she spent the first 10 months of her life utterly alone inside a sterile metal crib, with nothing to comfort her. If only you knew how we will spend years trying to override the part of her brain that screams ‘trauma’ and ‘not safe.’ If you only knew this baby now whimpers when she’s put down instead of when she is picked up.”
‘The doctor started with, ‘Do you remember the worst-case scenarios we discussed? We’re facing one of those.’: Mom welcomes rainbow baby
“My heart sank further as each anomaly was listed. ‘Your baby doesn’t have a pronounced jawline. His limbs hadn’t formed below his elbows and knees.'”
‘I know we’re setting you up for heartbreak.’ Something about them just felt right. They were home.’: Mom adopts brothers after infertility battle, ‘My boys are an answered prayer’
“The heartbreak is nothing compared to the day they come through the door and take off their coat.”
‘Men broke into my house. There’s blood all over the walls.’ There was my mom, wild-eyed and terrified.’: Daughter becomes caregiver to mom with dementia
“When I got to the house, there were no men, no blood. I dove headfirst into my new role.”
‘Oh my gosh, what have I done?! TWO toddler boys!’ I remembered the promise I made to myself, to always fight.’: Single foster mom shares ‘wild and beautiful’ adoption
“I looked at the caller ID in shock. It was a placement worker. ‘We have two brothers we’re looking to place immediately.’ My promise stays the same.”
‘My husband said, ‘Tamara, are we really doing this? We could have twins.’: Woman shares ‘rollercoaster’ infertility journey
“I blamed myself, work, stress, my body, my doctor. I held onto that anger to get me through the grief. I was left questioning everything. I said, ‘We’re really doing this.’”
‘You’re so strong…’ 3 little words I often hear as a parent to a very special girl.’ I don’t want to be, but here I am, giving the middle finger to her diagnoses.’: First-time mom shares special needs journey
“After weeks of grieving, we said ‘screw it.’ We decided we were 100% going to up and move our entire lives to a new city 7 hours away.”
‘We should get married at the hospital.’ I shot him down. ‘Babe, you’re getting out. I have hope.’: Woman loses husband to cancer 5 days after wedding, ‘He was the man of my dreams’
“It all started with his stomach hurting. We thought it was just acid, or reflux. He looked at me and said, ‘What if it’s cancer?’ My mind went numb.”
‘Days before Christmas, I anxiously woke to Jake hitting me in the back. ‘He has 6 to 12 months left to live.’: Woman raises money for brain cancer research after late boyfriend’s passing
“He tried to grab my hand and say, ‘Make it end now, please.’ Once the hospital bed arrived, he never left it again. I lived and died a thousand times. What many had experienced in a lifetime together, I got condensed into 5 years.”
