“By the age of 15, I was living a reckless lifestyle. I had already failed at everything and let so many people down. The acceptance and sense of self-worth gangs offered was appealing. I was lost and out of control. Not once did I think about my family and what I was doing to them. When the parademics arrived, I was pronounced dead on arrival. ‘We need a body bag.’ I was drenched in blood, no longer breathing. I died for 6 minutes.”
‘A car drove up next to us. The cocaine made me bold. I gestured our gang sign. They immediately shot me 5 times.’: Paraplegic, ex-gang member urges ‘choose your friends wisely, don’t let them choose you’
‘My OB guilt tripped me into getting the genetic tests done. I was 19. I developed a strange feeling.’: Woman predicts daughter’s Down syndrome diagnosis
“They plopped her on my tummy, facing her daddy. I cried the happiest tears. But, my husband looked at me with the most concerned look on his face. He knew.”
‘We could see past her imperfections, her peeling skin and bluish tint. To us, she was our perfect baby.’: Parents lose beautiful baby girl to congenital heart defect, ‘We will always have a guardian angel looking over us’
“We knew it was time to go. We wheeled Sophie down to a cooling room. She had so much brown, curly hair. She had her daddy’s nose and her mamma’s lips. Her perfect little lips. I wanted to kiss those lips every day.”
‘Yes, this is our daughter.’ My husband cut me off. I could hear him telling everyone, ‘I’m going to be a dad!’: Military family adopts child who was ‘always intended to be ours’
“’Hear me out, before you say anything.’ Those are the first words I heard. ‘It’s a girl. She’s due next month.’ I could barely speak. Our hearts ached for her, we stood there sobbing because this strong, smart, selfless birth mother’s deepest grief would be our greatest joy. Our daughter’s maternal grandma brought us both close in a warm hug. She whispered, ‘Go get your daughter,’ before she left.”
‘It stopped my heart. I landed on a glass I was carrying, and a chunk of it punctured my jugular. A voice came to me and told me I was dying. Oh God no! I didn’t want to die.’: Woman collapses after too much caffiene
“I suddenly felt nauseous. I was standing at the kitchen counter – and my next memory is opening my eyes, and I’m lying on something red. I felt shattered glass falling from my face. I ran my hand down my chin, where I felt something snag my finger.”
‘Marry the guy that does all the things’
“The guy that works hard for his family and often puts his needs dead last. The guy that goes to three different grocery stores to try and find his pregnant wife that special macaroni salad she just has to have (or the baby has to have.)”
‘As I wheeled the adoptive mom out toward the elevator, I could see her shoulders shaking with sobs. I knelt down beside her and took her hand in mine.’
“She looked deep into my soul and cried, ‘How can something that is so painful for someone, bring me so much joy?'”
‘The doctor said, ‘When we intubated him, a bright lime green slime came shooting out of his mouth.’: Husband has heart attack after drinking energy drink, ‘I wasn’t the only one’
“I’d just seen him joking around with me 30 minutes ago, and now he was lying on a gurney. The best option was to put him into a medically induced coma for at least 2 days to see if he’d regain his full mental capacity. All because of a drink!”
‘We were waiting in Christmas traffic. ‘Look over there. Something’s happening.’ Police cars were parked, lights spinning. ‘That doesn’t look good,’ I remarked. And then I saw them.’: Mom reflects on Christmas sadness
“A tall, muscular man in the center of the flashing chaos. His right arm wrapped around a beautiful, wide-eyed toddler. In the other hand he held a trash bag, stuffed with clothing. ‘Oh no,’ I murmured.”
‘He was 6 months old and only 9 pounds. I am a living nightmare. They knew it was all a tremendous f*ck up. They knew he was like this because of them.’
“I got the call around 3:30 a.m. I spent 9 months preparing for that call. 9 months worth of nights obsessively checking the volume on the phone, making sure it was charged, that it was close by, that I hadn’t somehow missed any calls. Well I got my call. Loud and clear.”
