“I stand there for a moment, clutching those two bottles in each hand, silver lids removed. I’m angry. I’m sad. ‘Why did you do this, Kara? Why?’ I need you to know, as devastating as The Decision has been for all of us, I will fulfill my promise to you. I bet you didn’t know it would force me back here, to a magical place I equally loathe and love. But here we are. It’s been 340 days.”
‘Mommy, I don’t want you to die! Mommy, why did Kara kill herself? Didn’t she want to see her Mommy anymore?’: Woman spreads loved one’s ashes in Paris, ‘The city of love, the city you will now forever be a part of’
‘Are you going to try for a girl?’ I already had 3 boys. Strangers asked me this over and over again for years.’: Mom of 3 boys suffers miscarriage, ‘It showed us what unconditional love is really about’
“‘It’s taking too long!’ Then she was quiet. I was quiet. When I took the tests again– 3 more in fact–they all came back positive! [days later – weeks later], I called my husband. He knew if I called during a meeting, it was urgent. ‘Hello?’ he answered. ‘We lost the baby,’ was all I could get out before weeping and shaking.”
‘If you do this, Kara, you will not be able to undo it. It will be permanent, forever.’: Woman writes letter after cousin’s suicide, ‘You must not know the impact it’s going to have on the rest of us’
“If you do this, Kara, my daughter is going to ask me if she is going to die, too. I reply, ‘Everyone does die eventually.’ She is going to ask me if she will die soon or when she is bigger. I will have to admit mommies don’t actually know everything. If you do this, everyone who loves you will have their own heartbreaking story to tell about how they must now go on without you.”
‘I think I just bought a grief chair. I have a feeling it might become something one day.’: Woman’s impromptu purchase becomes symbolic of her grief after losing brother.
“I noticed this ugly wooden chair amongst some of the furniture for sale. I guess it just looked the way I felt, on the verge of snapping in some places. Much like grief, I was just going to have to live with this chair for a while. It’s become such a fitting analogy. At the end of the day, it was still just a broken place to sit.”
‘I could feel her dark, navy lips saying, ‘Hi, Momma! I miss you!’ I couldn’t feel anything but the the weight of her dead body.’: Woman grieves 2-year anniversary of daughter’s death, ‘Grief will forever be part of our family’
“Grief looks like walking around Hobby Lobby with a beautiful, happy baby boy and tears running down my cheeks. How do you even pick flowers for your daughter’s grave? Can anything I buy show how much I love and miss her? My rainbow baby is making the cashier laugh. I wonder what she thinks I’m buying the flowers for, and if she can feel the grief roll off of me.”
‘Something is wrong with Dad. He’s not breathing!’ It felt like a horrible dream.’: Teen mom faces depression, alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy after losing father, ‘I’ve finally taken my life back’
“My boyfriend wasn’t always faithful and being a scared, pregnant teenager wasn’t easy. My boyfriend and baby’s dad asked me, ‘Can you get an abortion?’ I often put on a happy face for everyone, but at home alone with a toddler, I would lay in bed for hours, not wanting to get up. I wouldn’t brush my hair. I wouldn’t clean my house. I didn’t recognize myself and the people around me.”
‘Scott needed his tonsils removed. ‘I feel nervous.’ Hours later, I got a text from his brother: ‘I’m so sorry.’ He had to be playing a prank.’: Woman loses husband to sleep apnea during tonsillectomy
“He was worried about the surgery affecting his singing voice. I said, ‘I’d rather have you as a living baritone than a dead tenor.’ I thought I was funny. That was the last text I sent him.”
‘Sweet dreams baby boy, mummy loves you.’ The tiniest coffin lowered into the ground. That’s when it really hits you.’: Woman loses son to Edward’s Syndrome, ‘We gave him the most love we possibly could’
“We sat down that night with our oldest two. We explained we were so truly lucky because instead of a baby to bring home, we were given the rarest of gifts: an angel baby. They sobbed, ‘But we want him to come home.’ We purchased his plot where he would soon be laid to rest. At 32 weeks, we met with the funeral director – all as he kicked playfully inside my belly.”
‘Hang tight. He is on his way, and is beyond your wildest dreams.’ A week later, I met the man who would be my fiancé.’: Widow embraces love after loss after late husband dies tragically in ‘mock robbery’
“‘I’m sorry to say this, but your husband died tonight,’ the police officer said. The store was filled with gun powder. I looked across the room to find a pool of blood. Brian was 30 years old. We’d just gotten married only 86 days before. He didn’t realize the gun was fully loaded and shot him in the face.”
‘Omg, I still have to have the baby.’ It was the worst realization. My first experience with birth would be giving birth to death.’: Woman births stillborn due to knot in the umbilical cord, ‘I got my little girl but at the same time, I didn’t’
“My first experience with birth would be giving birth to death. ‘What are you here for?’ ‘A c-section,’ I responded. ‘How exciting! Do you know the sex?’ ‘No, we don’t,’ I said, thinking she should just give me the damn wristband and let me go. ‘Oh, that’s so fun. Congratulations!’ Our doctor said, ‘It’s a GIRL.’ I remember that first look and the love that overcame me.”
