“I got off the road after three packed years as a pop artist and found myself not knowing who I should be next. I thought I was ugly. I thought I was broken. I designed my next chapter to become truly happy.”
‘My boyfriend took my virginity during the grayest night of my life. I saw myself as used goods. I couldn.’t find my voice.’: Woman finds ‘self-worth’ after divorce, ‘I’m happy and whole’
‘This man, alone and smiling, set up a home office with the tide coming in. ‘Why would he do that? He can’t stay there indefinitely.’: Divorcee thanks ‘mystery man’ for teaching life lesson, ‘It all matters’
“And then I checked myself. This mystery man on the beach reminded me it all counts, it all matters.”
‘My divorce was finalized. And my ex brought me coffee in bed. There are just no words.’: After divorce, mom expresses ‘gratitude’ for her ex
“I stood side by side, laughing and crying through three decades of this life. Of building a home together. Of bringing children into the world and raising them. Of building two businesses. Nobody needs to understand it.”
‘He said, ‘I’m done. I’ve fallen out of love with you.’ I was 6 months pregnant with our child.’: Woman survives depression, ‘This boy has made me feel worthy of love’
“My ex said, ‘Ending a relationship is not a good enough reason to be diagnosed with PTSD.’ I had dark thoughts of not wanting to be here anymore. Nothing will ever compare to someone choosing not to love you anymore when you need their love and support the most.”
‘I have a girlfriend.’ He dropped the bomb. ‘I didn’t mean to run into you.’ It was bound to happen at some point.’: Woman runs into ex for the first time in 9 months, ‘I built my tribe’
“Then, a light bulb in my brain, immediately expressed aloud: ‘I bought that shirt for you,’ I said to him. In fact, I had lain beside him in bed, on our wedding night, and ordered it as a present to surprise him when we returned home from our vacation. He held my gaze for several seconds before mumbling. ‘I kind of forgot you were a real person.’”
‘Never take a moment for granted.’ For YEARS of my life, I was absent. I feel I’m cheating on him.’: Mom talks about difficulties of co-parenting, ‘Loving them enough to let them go is sometimes the best choice’
“I wanted to be there for it all. His first step, and not just his first word, but the first time he said ANY new word. I wanted to cuddle him and watch him sleep every night. He’s been to Disneyland 3 times, and none of them have been with me. The ideas I had of what being a mother meant were completely altered and I couldn’t do anything about it.”
‘Would you change things?’ I answer without hesitation, ‘No.’ We looked like a happy couple, but we both knew it was over.’: Super Dad is single father to 3 kids, ‘I’ve learned how to literally be 2 people at the same time.’
“It seems like I’m just a cool dad having fun while his wife is at work. But that’s not the case. We looked like a happy couple. You’d never know I was sleeping in my children’s playroom on a futon. I remember my mentor being honest with me, ‘You are an African American male in Texas, serving in the military. It’s highly unlikely you’ll get primary custody of your kids.’ I joined the 15 percent of single dads around the world that have primary custody of their kids. Now, I’m a full-time father of the 3 most resilient kids I know.”
‘I was attracted to you before you put on weight.’ It broke me. Now he’s dating a woman half my size and 15 years his junior.’: Woman works to be body positive after being fat-shamed, urges ‘You matter and you are enough’
“My doctor told me, ‘Your weight is why you lost your baby.’ I was destroyed. My weight was the reason my marriage ended and it was also the reason I miscarried. My ex-husband even went as far to accuse me of making up the entire pregnancy. I lost my love, my child, and myself that year.”
‘Why are you involved? Isn’t it depressing?’ I was dying and it wasn’t the cancer. It was the state of my life.’: Woman survives esophageal cancer, jumpstarts organization to help others
“I was separating from my husband, all the while wondering whether I was going to live or die. I was sharing a room with a woman who’d been told, ‘You have an incurable blood disease. Death is certain.’ I recall shrinking beneath my blankets, not wanting to bring attention to myself on the other side of the thin layer of privacy hanging between us. She told them ‘I have no family to call,’ and when the doctors left, we sat there in silence. I knew I was destined to do more.”
‘How can this be? It’s not how I wanted to bring a baby into the world.’ I heard his father met someone.’: Mom comes to accept and appreciate son’s new ‘bonus mom,’ urges to ‘let go of everything you never had control of to begin with’
“I was sitting in my car rehearsing everything I would say. ‘She better stay in her lane or there’s going to be problems!’ As I walked in, she greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. If I told you I expected that kind of introduction, I’d be lying. I was completely caught off guard. All my walls came down.”
