“Soon, the tips of her fingers fell off. One grandma asked, ‘Why didn’t you put sunscreen on your daughter?’ as if she was burnt. I couldn’t believe that came out of her mouth.”
‘The doctor said, ‘Put your camera down. There’s something on her skin.’ She was born in a hard, thick cocoon.’: Girl with Harlequin Ichthyosis proves ‘beauty is not just skin deep’
‘Do you ever put that baby down?’ The question was unwarranted and filled with judgement.’: Mom urges ‘just hold the baby, you won’t regret it’
“You’ll blink and they’ll be walking. You’ll turn around and they’ll start running away from you. And you’ll wish you would’ve held them more when they let you. You’ll wish you could rock them to sleep again and watch those little eyes flutter as they’re dreaming.”
‘I’d been on my phone. I might have judged another mom, had I seen her doing the same thing.’: Mom reminds others not to judge
“I couldn’t process what I’d heard. I still haven’t.”
‘What’s that on your neck?’ They thought it was a disease. ‘Are you contagious?’: Man with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 talks overcoming bullying
“When I turned 6, something began to grow on me. I was at my wit’s end with the torment. ‘I’ll never find happiness.’ Still, I knew there was purpose.”
‘Now, honey. BE SWEET.’ In the heart of Alabama, if you hurt someone’s ego with valid criticism, women are fussed at.’: Mom defends daughter’s right to speak her mind
“Really, it’s just a sugary, Southern way to say, ‘Get back in your lane.’ The highest compliment a young lady could receive was to be seen as ‘a sweet girl.’”
‘TikTok people are making fun of kids like my six-year-old son, and I am not okay with it. It completely devastates me.’: Mom of autistic child reacts to TikTok bullying, ‘We need to do better’
“They are at home making videos about how people like my son move, jump, flap, bounce and dance to express themselves. We are supposed to laugh and be entertained? Well, we are not.”
‘I was staring at my massive basket of pre-kids clothes I refuse to throw out. ‘My body size can change.’: Woman struggling with body positivity says ‘I don’t exist to fit clothes, they exist to fit me’
“My husband saw me staring at them. My heart skipped a beat. I’m not a size 4 anymore.”
‘Today I ran into an old acquaintance I haven’t seen in years. She told me, ‘You put on weight!’ Her words still cut deep today.’: Woman struggling with mental health says ‘I am more than my physical appearance’
“I never comment on anyone’s body because I know. You’re right. I have put on weight. She meant it as a compliment.”
‘Out of the blue, my 17-year career ended. I lost all three of my brothers by 40. It felt like a divorce’: Woman says ‘there is no way to compare grief’
“At 40, when the kids are older and kind of self-sufficient (somewhat), you should be hitting autopilot. You feel like your crap is together and BAM…ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. Well, at least it did for me.”
‘What will you tell your kids? They look trashy.’ I’ll tell them what my tattoos mean to me.’: After lupus diagnosis, sexual assault survivor uses to tattoos to ‘help me reclaim myself’
“Unsolicited, I have been ‘advised’ on my body art. I’ve been asked, in horror, ‘What will you tell your kids?’ I’ll tell them what my tattoos mean to me, and when they’re older, they can get tattoos if they want them. ‘You’re inviting people to judge you.’ Actually no, I’m not. ‘Can you get a job with those?’ Firstly, none of your business. Secondly, yes. Then there are the people who find my tattoos TOO appealing. ‘Where ELSE are you inked?’ ‘So, you like pain, huh?’ ‘Wanna see MY tattoo?’ Seriously, be less sleazy.”
