“’Really? Haven’t I been through enough?’ I stared at him blankly. The flashing lights and the cold temperature of the metal board my body was put on led me to a profound peacefulness.”
‘I grabbed my stomach. ‘Call the doctor!’ The nurses whispered over my charts. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.’: Mom births rainbow baby after stillbirth, ‘Find beauty through ashes’
‘Stop being sad, Heather. People would kill to have what you have.’ You cannot push grief away. It’s going to show it’s face, one way or another.’: Woman reminds us ‘joy and grief can co-exist, even during Christmas’
“Last night, I put up my Christmas tree and cried. It happens every year. For many, many years, I thought I hated Christmas. I’ve come to realize I don’t it. I hate the pressure of trying to hide my grief, for the comfort of others.”
‘Please take me home.’ Watching her crumble at her birth mother’s feet almost did me in. We had to protect her.’: Couple adopts teen from foster care, ‘She deserves a safe place’
“Nothing about foster care was easy. Why wasn’t there a boot camp for this? The Navy had trained me so well for potential threats, but now I was in an actual war field and felt left for dead. I almost walked away.”
‘OMG! It’s not working. Give him one more dose. ANOTHER.’ Everything went downhill, and FAST.’: Woman recounts heartbreaking and unexpected loss of father, ‘I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone’
“All day I kept having a weird feeling—like maybe I should call and ask him, ‘How are you?’ I just put it off as something else. The hospital assured us he was fine. I just shut down. I can’t explain it, but this switch in me just turned off. I don’t remember much after.”
‘You’re under arrest.’ My HUSBAND called the police on me. I woke up in the back of a cop car.’: Woman gets sober, delivers rainbow baby, ‘I can’t live my best life while drinking’
“I fed my toddler crackers and watched TV because I couldn’t function. I could NOT parent. The ‘’mommy juice’ culture became a slippery slope.”
‘I can’t raise a child. I can’t even take care of myself!’ I had nothing left to live for. Or so I thought.’: Woman recovers from addiction for daughter, ‘All it took was a tiny shimmer of hope’
“Self-medication was the only thing keeping me alive. I sat outside, chain-smoking and chugging a bottle of wine. ’My boyfriend is an addict and I can’t get sober.’ I was never supposed to get pregnant.”
‘I was over-medicated, an emotionless zombie. I didn’t know how to celebrate without him. This year, I FEEL.’: Widow shares feelings on holidays while grieving, ‘Finding a new normal is weird’
“I feel, at any moment, every good feeling may be the last one I have. I just have to put on my fancy holiday anxiety and deal with it. The worst part about being a widow is holidays.”
‘Try not to cry, you won’t be able to wipe your tears.’ I thought I’d faint from shock. Tears rolled down his face. ‘We’re here now, Pops.’: Woman loses father to COVID-19, ‘We’re never alone’
“We looked like something out of a space movie. Shoe covers, face mask, visor, and two pairs of gloves. ‘There’s nothing more we can do.’ No more miracles. He was gone.”
‘We’ll need swings for two babies.’ I told my daughter, ‘Not this time.’ Then my doctor whispered, ‘You won’t believe this.’: Woman gives birth to preemie rainbow twins
“My doctor scanned back and forth. ’There’s two.’ I looked at my daughter, who had her arms folded. She said, very matter-of-factly, ‘I told you.’”
‘They gave me a shot in each leg. ‘What if I lose her?’ It seemed like seconds before the nurses returned with news.’: Couple welcomes rainbow baby after ectopic pregnancy, ‘I regained my belief in miracles’
“I was sent to surgery to remove my fallopian tube, and an estimated 30% of my fertility. I was terrified my dreams of a family were lost in the operating room.”
