“I wasn’t oblivious to the fact Sam was in a wheelchair, but he had the most beautiful blue eyes and the biggest smile I’d ever seen. Those were the things that really stood out to me.”
‘We were different than anything our small town had seen. ‘It’s a burden on you.’ They didn’t see the love we had for each other.’: Interabled couple share beautiful love story, ‘We were made for each other’
‘Sometimes it’s hard to find.’ She placed the wand on my belly and shook her head. My heart sunk.’: Mom welcomes rainbow baby after loss of son, ‘He’ll always be her guardian angel’
“I was confused. None of this made sense. He was just alive and well at my last check-up a few days ago. Not only that, but he was perfect. I held on to hope my story wasn’t over.”
‘I asked my parents, ‘Why am I not like all the other kids?’ to which they replied, ‘That’s just how God made you.’: Young woman with Spinal Muscular Atrophy pursues career, ‘I found a way to make life happen!’
“I’d sit on the sidelines during PE while my peers played and had the time of their lives. I felt envy toward able-bodied children. I was that awkward girl in a wheelchair who didn’t know anybody. I didn’t fit in. One morning, I awoke to muscle loss in my hands. ‘But how will I create my art?!’ I had to find a way to make life happen.”
‘My mom tried to manipulate me to break up with my girlfriend. She saw how happy I was. I arrived to find all my stuff on the front lawn.’: Son details the fallout from his narcissistic mother
“My mother didn’t want to get to know her. After all, I was my mother’s son, not my girlfriend’s boyfriend. ‘Why does SHE deserve a ticket, she won’t even be around forever?’ I arrived to find all my stuff thrown on her front lawn. There was a note on the message board: ‘I’d like to dig a hole in her backyard and bury your girlfriend in it.’”
‘We arrived at the checkout. I’d left my wallet in the truck. In my rush, my daughter tripped and skinned her knee as we raced out the door.’: Mom says ‘our children repeat what they hear’
“I apologized and raced out of the store to get my bank card. In my rush, my daughter tripped and skinned her knee. She cried as I scooped her up. I tried to comfort her while drowning in shame. We discovered that the baggers had unloaded our entire cart. His response brought tears to my eyes. It had been an evening fraught with failure.”
‘I look around and mothers are wilting. Marriages are filled with resentment, longing. Moments with our children are hurried and empty.’: Woman explains mental health through gardening
“My husband is a man with a need to accomplish a list. You can throw all the yoga, hot tea, sex, and time together you can dream up his way, but if he’s not daily accomplishing something on that list, he will feel stagnant and unfulfilled. Me? I probably had a list, but I lost it somewhere.”
‘The nurses’ voice cracked, ‘I am so sorry.’ I never knew devastation until that call.’: Couple battling stage 4 endometriosis begin foster care journey, ‘We want the big family, sleepless nights, and poopy diapers.’
“After 6 months of trying, we had more negative tests than I could count. I was told I had two large cysts on my ovaries. ‘Keep trying. If in 6 months, you still aren’t pregnant, call me.’ Our bones are laced with grief.”
