“4 months after I had the baby, Grandma passed away. My kids learned to honor the elderly. They learned to put someone else’s needs above their own. They soaked in the last possible days with people that spent a lifetime pouring into all of us. For that, I have no regrets.”
‘Well the doctor said I am crazier than him!’ Grandma exclaimed with a look I couldn’t quite place.’: Granddaughter learns important lesson in caring for elders, ‘I didn’t know it then. Everything ends.’
‘Yes, I post photos of my kids online. As a mom, there’s bigger things to worry about than some hacker using them.’: Mom defends showcasing children on social media, says photos are ‘meant to make people smile’
“‘Is that me? I’m a baby?!,’ my 3-year-old asks as we swipe through a photo album on social media. ‘That’s you when you weren’t even 1 yet!’ He’s intrigued. Growing up, my mom took pictures of us only at special events. Over the years, those photo prints became scarce. The existing ones lived in a box somewhere, lost or damaged. I want something different for my children.”
‘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.”
‘Your momma used to make me lemon meringue pie. I never did care for it.’ Oh. My. Word!’: Daughter’s heartwarming realization about her parents’ ‘true love’ after mother’s death
“Every special occasion, my mom would make us our favorite pie. For my dad, it was lemon meringue. She always fretted until Daddy’s pie was made. She’d carry it, he’d make a big production, hug her and smack his lips. When I was 24, my mom passed away. As my Dad’s birthday approached, I began to fret. I went to the grocery store to find the ingredients, looking up and down every aisle. Later, I made a way to my Dad’s house to unveil the loveliest pie I’d ever made.”
‘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.”
‘I think I am meant to know you.’ My grandpa didn’t recognize us anymore. This disease transformed him into someone else.’: Woman shares ‘fond memories’ of granddad with Alzheimer’s
“I’d been toying with the idea of having him immortalized on my body. I wanted to keep him close to me, and we all knew how important fishing was to my grandpa. But I had a partner that wouldn’t ‘allow’ me to get tattoos on my body. Luckily, I kept the idea within me until I found true love. Each day I see my tattoo, I am reminded of this huge bond I had with my grandpa.”
‘We piled on the bed. Mike had his arm wrapped around our Dorothy bear. She’s always in our bedroom, but doesn’t always make it onto the bed with us. Tonight she did.’: Mother’s emotional tribute to stillborn daughter
“I was looking at the picture and thinking about how it’s so comforting when all of us can be represented in a photo. Anyone who knows our story would understand who that bear symbolizes.”
‘I just want to stand by dad,’ I told her. This feeling came over me. For a second, I thought it was a joke’: Daughter’s eerie intuition about dad’s untimely death
“We got settled into our seats. I was on one end, my dad on the other. I felt this feeling come over me. I got up, went and stood by my dad. My mom asked me what I was doing. Minutes later, I see his cell phone drop from his hand. His head goes back, and his body is shaking.”
‘233 Bossler Street. I’ve written that address hundreds of times. I’ll never write that address again.’ Woman reminisces on unexpected ‘last time’ she’d ever visit her grandparents’ home
“I never made it back because life got busy. I always thought there would be another time. There won’t be. Now, it’s someone else’s home, with someone else’s family.”
‘Are you thinking about killing yourself?’ He became scared of his own brain. The pain was too great. I keep trying to be mad at him. I can’t manage it, though.’
“He got this weird look about him. I didn’t think too much of it. Pretty normal for Mark. Later, he told me that after our time together, he had made a noose, and driven out of town with the intention of hanging himself. He said he wanted to make sure it was perfect before he died.”
