“Our family is deeply, extremely religious. Christianity shapes our values, traditions. My son seemed surprised by my reaction. Perhaps he was expecting a big, long argument. He was bracing himself for battle. I have none to give. LOVE is our spiritual center. I could not be prouder of the man you’re becoming.”
‘Mom, I’ve decided something.’ My teen son came out as an atheist. My response? I simply said, ‘Okay.’: Christian mom accepts son’s lack of faith, ‘love is our spiritual center’
‘I honestly thought this would be easier by now. How in the world am I still this exhausted?’: Mother kept waiting for raising children to get easier, it never came
“Heck, even my own parents made it look effortless. But I’m not raising me. And it’s a different time. And all that….blah, blah, blah. So here I am, still figuring it out day to day just like when I had a newborn.”
‘Mom!’ At 3 a.m. I noticed an entire SWAT team creeping around my car. Tears flooded my eyes.’: Woman overcomes battle with addiction, ‘the strength I’ve gained from my pain is priceless’
“After a 6-day bender with literally no sleep, I took my last hit and swallowed a gram of molly. It ended up being bath salts. My poor mom didn’t hesitate to answer my call. Sobbing, I kept telling her to be quiet. I was homeless, starving, and had walked away from my children. The SWAT team was never there. It was all in my head. I have absolutely no idea who that girl was.”
‘It happened. My husband messaged a woman I didn’t recognize. What I saw made me cry.’: Woman celebrates mental health growth after discovering her old texts, ‘I am nothing like that woman now’
“He was showering after a long day with our kids and happened to leave his phone on the table. Unlocked. For some reason, I felt compelled to look at his messages. I scroll up, hoping to see some cute old texts we sent months back. I wanted to re-read them, to smile. What I saw, made me want to cry. The person he was texting was a very broken woman.”
‘Are you okay?’ I was visibly a junkie. This man took me to his home where his girlfriend was waiting.’: Woman reminisces on stranger’s ‘beautiful act of kindness’ during active addiction
“I used to sleep under this bridge. One day, at a gas station, I was visibly bleeding from a fight. This woman gently dressed my wounds. They gave me clothes, a soda, and a sandwich. I was literally too hungry to play shy, so I scarfed it down and chugged until I hiccuped. In that moment of pure desperation, they breathed life back into me.”
‘I was 32 when my husband suddenly died. I wanted to have children with him. Being without him is terrifying.’: Widow finds the ‘beautiful balance of life after loss’ with 2-year-old son
“A counselor I met with looked at me and asked this simple question. ‘Would Albert want you to grieve with fear, or grieve with hope?’ I immediately knew the answer. As I sat there on the couch, tears streaming down my face, I knew I needed to live. Just because Albert died, doesn’t mean I have to as well. That would be the last thing he would want me to do.”
‘Right now is not your time. You’re meant to help other people.’ A 10-minute reign of terror broke out: Shooting survivor recalls ‘resources’ she’s learned from past trauma that helped keep her alive
“From the moment we got around the corner, things felt off, eerie. As this man came closer, I realized something was very wrong. ‘You’re going to come with me and do what I say,’ he said, holding me. I would do whatever it took to keep my daughter safe. If I get a feeling, I listen.”
‘At 6, I learned what pure evil is. I knew something was wrong.’: Abused young woman ‘adopted’ by teacher who ‘actually got to know me’ during traumatic childhood
“My teacher was so nice and friendly. He would talk to me, and actually get to know me. I would go to his office during lunch because I didn’t have friends, money or a lunch to eat. My mom jerked us all the way across the country to live with a man she met on the internet. It took me 2 months to finally save money to go back home, and when I did, I went back to that same high school.”
‘Rage rushed through me. Her profile picture was a photo with MY husband, faces smashed together side by side, smiling ear to ear. Can you imagine? That was MY HUSBAND.’: Woman thrives after leaving cheating husband, ‘I demanded more from life’
“I dialed the number. ‘Who are you? Why are you talking to my husband so much?’ She responded with, ‘Who is your husband?’ I told her his name. Her response baffled me. She said, ‘Oh… wow… I KNEW he had to be married.’ As if she was proud of herself.”
‘My bully was 6’3 and 300 pounds. Only he wasn’t on the playground, but in my home. He ran it like a military boot camp from hell. When he freed me, I wasn’t allowed to say a word.’
“This man could literally lift the front end of cars. While other girls my age chased butterflies and dreams, I hid in closets from my living nightmares. But no matter how many times the neighbors called social services, nothing changed. Why didn’t anyone help?”
