“I’d done everything I was supposed to do. I found a woman I loved. We had a house, dogs, great jobs. We were the rock solid couple to be envied. I cried for the first time in 10 years. ‘If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.’ Something inside me cracked and fell away. I couldn’t speak. I was left to pick up the pieces of my white-picket life. Worst of all, I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.”
‘Dustin, I’m gay.’ She’d been faking it for 10 years. I was kicked out. ‘Say goodbye to our dogs.’: Man finally ‘healed’ after wife comes out as gay, ‘I wish her all the happiness in the world’
‘You’ve been lying to me.’ My frantic husband was pacing the room. ‘What’s really going on?’ Tell the truth.’: Wife admits her own infidelity, promises your marriage is ‘worth fighting for,’ says ‘you can gain trust again’
“My phone was in his hand. I was half asleep. He’d found a thread of messages to a friend of mine. I’d been telling her I felt like the other guy was the one for me. Not my husband. As you can imagine, he was blindsided. ‘Tell me what happened,’ he kept repeating. Tears streamed down my face. If I said it, then that made it more real.”
‘I’d kill myself if I looked like you.’ Everywhere I went, I was the center of attention. I accepted that dying wouldn’t be such a bad thing.’ Man with venous malformation birthmark finds ‘happiness and confidence’
“My birthmark grew bigger and bigger. I got used to others pointing me out, whispering, laughing. Throughout my teenage tears, I avoided public places, family events. Any situation that involved people. I always put on a brave face, but in the background my confidence was constantly taking a hit. I couldn’t bring myself to face the world.”
‘Sex after babies. I thought I’d be making jokes about my vagina looking like an angry old man who ate an onion, or always saying, ‘I have a headache.’ Never did I reflect on my relationship.’
“The exhaustion of parenting is literally ruining my relationship. I have not once thought about putting my relationship first. Why would I? My children are priority. I kill myself every day for them, because I love them.”
‘My daughter, who is always listening, said, ‘I bet she will say, ‘OH, NO! It’s fine!’ But deep down, she will be angry at you.’ That is what my 9-year-old daughter has already learned. From me.’
“I lie awake after parties and wonder if my joke was taken the wrong way. Whose feelings did I hurt? I apologized to my daughter for my actions that lead her to think women had to hide. That pleasing people should be a top priority. The truth is enough.”
‘Just stay down there, I’ll step over you’. A flippant comment by one of the mothers at swim lessons. I was trying to get to the pool on my bottom, guiding my son. I let her by, but it pushed me further into darkness.’
“I had an accident on a trampoline and broke my leg. Initially I saw it as a small set back and would be back in no time. I’d just gotten married 10 weeks before. The plan was to have children soon, so I wanted to recover as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
‘I was a prisoner to thinness. I’ve gained 75 pounds. But something miraculous happened.’: Woman overcomes eating disorder after sexual trauma
“I was 6 when I wore my first bathing suit in a beauty competition. I was 8 when my dance instructor told my mom I was too chubby. I was 15 when I became addicted to diet pills. After seeing myself go through so much to bring my children into the world, I now know that worthiness is my birthright.”
‘I wanted to scream, ‘WHAT ARE YOU NOT TELLING ME?!,’ but I didn’t have to wait long. At our two-month check up, our worst fears were confirmed.’
“Her right arm looked like a chicken wing. Her other arm started to hang limp. It was rotated inward, as if it were dislocated.”
‘You might look at these pictures, and feel uncomfortable. You might think, ‘I could never ‘share’ my child like that.’ She leaves the hospital with empty arms. Open adoption does not equal co-parenting.’
“During her second trimester she sent me emails letting me know about the SpaghettiOs he was making her crave. She gave us a jar of pink and blue candies and made us count every single one to find out if it was a boy or a girl. They gave them life and I am teaching them how to live it.”
‘Tell me, CAN YOU EXPLAIN ALL THIS WEIGHT YOU’VE GAINED?,’ the Nurse says to my 13-year-old daughter’: Mom says young women need to be ‘empowered’ over normal childhood growth
“My daughter is speechless, and her eyes begin to glass over. I am speechless. LOST MY MIND. I had a literal, physical reaction. I put my hand up and said ‘STOP! You need to stop talking to my daughter about her weight.”
