“19 years old, I’d found a part-time job waiting tables at a local Olive Garden for the summer. One blistering hot day in July, I dropped a coworker off at work, looking forward to her shift ending so we could go out dancing. I had no idea my life was about to be turned upside down.”
‘As I rinsed my car, a man from behind placed a knife at my throat. Hand over my mouth, he dragged me to the floor of his car, forcing handcuffs around my wrists.’: Kidnapping, sexual assault survivor urges ‘there is abundant life after trauma’
Please Stop Sharing Videos Of Black People Being Killed Without Warning
“It is not about being overly sensitive, it is about being utterly traumatized.”
‘In my 30s I asked, ‘Is being ‘playfully’ drowned in a pool considered abuse?’ It was a groundbreaking moment.’: Woman shares journey healing from ‘cycle of generational trauma’
“I struggled through acne, stomach aches, anxiety, chest palpitations, and sweaty palms. My body was keeping score.”
‘Walls were painted blue, gendered gifts purchased, and everyone in the delivery room was shocked when I entered the world with a vagina.’: Intersex individual proud after ‘living in secrecy for 27 years’
“Before I turned one year old, I was forcibly sterilized. Or, in simpler terms, castrated.”
‘What happened to your face and neck?’ In the blink of an eye, my brother became a monster.’: Childhood abuse survivor urges ‘letting go is the best gift we can give ourselves’
“There were blue-black marks everywhere. One never truly knows how fragile life is until you nearly lose it.”
‘Our daughter tried to record the Easter Bunny. She awoke to find a video of glitter, bunny hopping sounds, and flashing lights. Suddenly, her Easter basket appeared.’: Widow talks navigating grief during holidays
“We’re all living a ‘grief life,’ whether it’s death, divorce, the loss of a job, the home we grew up in, friends – anything that was important to us. It’s okay not to be okay this holiday, but it’s also okay to feel good.”
‘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.”
‘A crowbar came through the windshield and struck him in the head.’ When he died, a bit of me died too.’: Grieving daughter turns to cooking therapy
“I was hungry to keep his legacy alive, starving for people to recognize my loss. The casseroles stop coming before the grieving has even begun.”
‘I got pregnant on a one-night stand with a guy I barely knew. I had zero respect for my body or myself.’: Woman shares celibacy journey, ‘I’m taking my body back’
“If I wanted to sleep with a man who wasn’t my boyfriend, I did just that. Sex became another drug for me. I drank to oblivion to erase the shame.”
‘I looked at myself and saw an old, washed-up woman with nothing to offer. I wanted to go to bed and not wake up.’: Woman shares self-discovery journey, ‘Life is a story we get to write’
“I had a divorce battle on my hands and two children to raise. It turned out no one was going to get me out of this mess. It was down to me to sort it out.”
