“I still pray every time he walks out that door that he’ll walk back in. The sound of Velcro waking me up at 4 a.m. has become my favorite sound. I’m a ‘leo’ wife. I’ve cried to him, ‘It’s hard to send you out that door, to protect people who want to harm you.’ But it’s so much more than an adrenaline rush for him. This man is my strength through the struggles. We’re not just growing old together; we’re growing up together.”
‘You’re going to regret this.’ Getting married at 19 was not trendy. But I’ve never been more sure.’: High school sweethearts marry despite harsh criticism, ‘I grew up and am growing old with my best friend’
‘Daniel may have trouble fathering children. He had a botched surgery when he was very young. As 18-year-olds, we didn’t grasp the seriousness of his male infertility. Then I realized something was wrong with me, too.’
“My husband’s counts had dropped to almost nothing. Six live sperm were found. Six! No six thousand. Just six. We got a letter in the mail. The yearly fee to keep his sperm frozen was due. It was hundreds of dollars. We had to make a decision about our future– right now. At 26 years old, I VOLUNTARILY had a hysterectomy. Then, we got the call.”
‘I had a stroke at 28 years old. Everyone assumed I was dehydrated or passed out. Soon enough, I was signing for my husband to take me off life support. Then reality hit.’
“We had a beautifully healed daughter. Our marriage was stronger than ever. That’s when everything changed, again. Words cannot describe how scared we were. We were again trying to hide our struggles behind fake smiles. That’s when they heard it.”
‘A teacher called our daughter ‘lazy,’ put her outside, and forgot about her. We found her in full-blown panic.’: Mom creates ‘disability buttons’ for daughter with special needs, in tears after people ‘finally talk to her’
“My daughter called me from a store parking lot crying. She’d gone to the toy aisle and picked a Barbie. As she walked through the door, the security alarm went off. She was scared and didn’t know what to do. The security person came up to her abruptly and demanded a receipt. Her mind went blank. I watched videos online about a ‘special needs girl getting handcuffed’ at Walmart.”
‘Hey, here’s a photo of us when we were little.’ I tapped him. It was probably a creepy move.’: Woman runs into childhood friend after decade apart, ‘flower girl and ring bearer’ before bride and groom
“On my first day of high school, in walks a new boy with familiar bright blonde hair. His name was Briggs and for some reason I couldn’t get it out of my head. I still remember the first time I went into his house. His mother led me to an old photograph hanging right on the wall. It was me. In that very moment, I thought to myself, ‘This is the man I want to marry.’ I felt completely at home.”
‘Weeks before boot camp, he said, ‘What if we get married?!’ I knew the risks. The statistics were against us. But if I said no, I knew every ounce of me would regret it.’ Military spouse candidly recounts ‘navigating the chaos’ of marrying, conceiving young
“When I got pregnant, we had a fairy tale image of what our little life would look like. NO ONE tells you the effect a baby can have on your relationship with your spouse. We went from the comforts of our family homes to navigating life on our own. From regular date nights and weekend outings to sleeping in shifts. We barely spoke. Our connection and intimacy had gone numb.”
‘Despite having 5 beautiful children, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that our family was not complete. I looked around and thought, ‘Surely we have room for one more, right?’
“At only 17 years old, while still a senior in high school, I vividly remember the intense fear I felt when I looked at that pregnancy test. What would become of me? I had always been the good girl – the one that got good grades and followed the rules.”
‘At 15 he was told he had 24 hours to live:’ Couple wed amid illness and hospice
“Mary never left his side.”
