“I was in line to get help at the Apple Store. When my husband died, he took his computer wizardry tricks with him. This bridezilla went on for 20 minutes about wedding details, dresses, annoyances. I looked at her and said, ‘Will you still love him on the brink of death?’ I told this poor bride-to-be I was a widow. I couldn’t help it. I broke. ‘Someday, you’ll see none of this matters.’ She was stunned.”
‘Can you BELIEVE this dress?!’ I overheard a bridezilla and broke y’all. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.’: Widow breaks down, confronts bridezilla in mall, ‘the only thing that matters is love’
‘Hey, I have something to show you.’ My grandpa pulled out a cup, her name still on it. It’s been 20 years.’: Grandpa surprises daughter with late grandmother’s keepsake, reminds us to ‘live in the joy of the present’
“This past Christmas, as I was writing everyone’s names on their red solo cups, my grandpa pulled me aside with a grin and reached into the top corner of a cabinet. ‘I dug it out of the trash after everyone left.’ He knew it would be the last time the love of his life celebrated Christmas. Make sure to send that text, make that call, go to that birthday party. Because, sometimes, we don’t know.”
‘Check on Luke!’ I found my son on the ground, his little heart jolted out of rhythm, and a baseball bat.’: Mom loses son to rare Cardiac Arrest, claims ‘his loving energy can never die’
“When Luke was 4, I turned on my iPhone video and asked him what he wanted for Christmas. He immediately said, ‘A baby brother named Benjamin!’ 2 weeks later, he gently poked me in my stomach. ‘There’s a baby in there.’ In total disbelief, I took a pregnancy test, which turned positive. 9 months later, Luke held his baby brother in his arms. All his wishes had come true. But days later, my sweet Luke left our world.”
‘I’m waiting for my daughter to die. Every day I wake up, she might not.’: Mom gives birth to ‘rainbow baby’ with ‘rare, terminal’ Sanfilippo syndrome, makes ‘each day count’
“She went from surpassing all her milestones to not being able to walk, drink, or eat. I was tired of going home from the hospital with no answers, the typical run around from doctors. One day, with 10 residents, 5 doctors, and 4 nurses in front of me, I said, and I quote, ‘Discharge her again and I promise I’ll sue every single person standing in this room.’ Needless to say, they ran every test. I now know that instead of her burying me, I’ll be burying her.”
‘When can I see the baby?’ New moms hear over and over, before she’s even left the hospital.’: Mom reminds us to ‘nurture the mother’ post-delivery
“Before she’s had a chance to sleep. Before she’s showered off the blood. ‘When can I come see the baby?’ Her estrogen and progesterone levels are plummeting. She’s shaky. Hot, cold, sweaty, and weak. Her crotch is swollen, puffy. She has stretch marks, hair loss, acne, blurry vision, and dry eyes. When you walk into her house, look at HER. Admire the baby, sure. But don’t forget to nurture the mother.”
‘I’m leaving for college soon. I wanted to make my little brother smile while I still can.’: Big brother’s ‘goofy joke’ reminds us to ‘make every moment count’ with our siblings
“I’m starting senior year of high school and my schedule allows me to get home before my little brother Max. One day, I ran to my room and threw together the most embarrassing outfit I could find. When Max got off the bus, he was very confused and embarrassed, which means my plan worked. I decided to do it again the next day, and the next. Soon, people started donating costumes and he began to really enjoy it. As an older brother, it’s all I could’ve hoped for. A smile on his face.”
‘Maryanne, will you marry me?’ I stood there, in awe of their love. Hate is just not in their DNA.’: Married couple now ‘longest living’ pair with Down Syndrome, ‘it’s nothing short of a fairy tale’
“Fate brought them together. They live in this bubble where they only have eyes for each other. They cannot bear to be apart. People doubted them, said it was ‘disgusting’ they were allowed to get married. 29 years later, disability or not, anything is possible with love. I think most of us could learn a thing or two from them.”
‘Instead of packing the car for a fun weekend with grandma, we came here, to the cemetery. This is where we must visit her now.’: Woman loses mom, says we should ‘let grandparents spoil our kids while they still can’
“My mom always reminded me she LOVED being a mother. She’d follow with, ‘But there’s just something SO SPECIAL about being a grandma!’ I drove home crying, thinking of all the times I harped at her for giving the kids too many sweets, or letting them stay up too late, or doing anything that grandparents do. What I would give to go back to those moments and soak them up instead of roll my eyes.”
‘The Flash doesn’t wear a seat belt. I’m The Flash, mama.’ He unbuckled. A large rock rolled into my lane.’: Mom loses son in tragic car accident, urges parents to ‘hold your babies tight’
“The rock hit my axle and sent us plummeting into the side of a cliff. With all my might, I tried to lift the heavy van off my son’s tiny body, but he was already gone. People commented how horrible of a mom I was. How I deserved it. I wanted to shake them, tell them how hard I fought to save him. That he held my hand with his little fingers, and told me I was the best mama ever. But no one would have listened anyway.”
‘I just wanted to hose down the kids and take a nap in the laundry pile. ‘You’ll miss the days you’re having,’ a stranger said to me, smiling. I wanted to freeze time.’: Mom reminds caregivers there’s ‘more good days than bad’
“The kids cry, fight. The toilet clogs again. I buy $200 of groceries for the week and we run out of milk. I can barely fit into my mom jeans because my gym time has been sabotaged by my kids. There are days where my children run wild and they don’t seem to care what I say or do. Then, there are days I just want to lie on the floor, listen to them breathe, and soak in their innocence.”
