“No reservations of nerves played on my mind. I tasted the salted air and strode into the ocean. You begin to realize nothing really mattered but your mind, your focus, your control. ‘Until next time, my love. I will be back.’”
‘I live in physical agony. The sea welcomed me into her icy embrace. The first touch of water began to lick my pain away.’: Chronic illness warrior finds pain relief, ‘The tools are within us’
‘Why suffer when there’s medication!’ I begged for help, no one heard.’: Widow suffers PTSD, finds herself, ‘I finally embraced the woman I once knew’’
“’I can’t do this anymore.’ I was stuck in molasses, unable to move forward. ‘PTSD? That’s for those in the army, or for major trauma.’ I was speechless.”
‘We’ve been locked in our apartment for weeks. We are at peace in the epicenter of the virus.’: Woman shares positives from quarantine in Wuhan, ‘Fear and worry have no seat at our table’
“We have bonded with and supported each other in ways I’ve never experienced in my 9 years of living here. This is a bond that may lessen when our world gets back to normal, but for now I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
‘There is a silent tragedy right now, in our homes, and it concerns our most precious jewels – our children.’: Occupational therapist addresses child mental illness epidemic, ‘We have to wake up!’
“I have witnessed this tragedy unfolding right in front of my eyes. Our children are in a devastating emotional state! No, ‘they all are just born like this’ is not the answer. No, ‘it is all the school system’s fault’ is not the answer. As painful as it can be to admit, in many cases, WE, parents, are the answer to many of our kids’ struggles! We must make changes before this entire generation of children will be medicated.”
‘We were 11,000 feet above sea level. I wanted to throw up. I instantly regretted this. But we’ve got to get that picture!’: Mom shares terrifying moment she ‘hated’ to encourage others to show their ‘true life’ moments too
“Our GPS was basically like, ‘You guys don’t want to go that way, PLEASE go this other way!,’ but we didn’t listen. Of course we wanted to go this way! I couldn’t get my balance. I was shaking with anxiety. But smile, everyone! Say cheese!”
‘Today, I failed miserably as a mom. There was yelling, crying. My broken mom heart gave up. I worried I couldn’t turn the day around or pick up where we left off. Then, I tried something.’
“I fled. We fled. I had to turn and walk away before verbally wounding the child that just wounded me. I packed up the kids and bonus child. I could feel my heart rate calming as we came to the top. The day ended so much more peaceful than it began.”
‘I tandem nursed until my oldest was 4.5 years old. My youngest is 3.5 years old and is still happily nursing. She will wean when she is good and ready.’: Mom says people get ‘get weird and disgusted’ by her breastfeeding habits, but urges ‘we do it out of the love we have for our children’
“Sometimes when people hear that my children nurse for much longer than what is seen as normal, they get weird and disgusted. This is exactly why we are so passionate about these photos and normalizing breastfeeding.”
‘I’m going to miss him, but I’m glad he’s feeling better.’ This butterfly would make it to the top of the hill if it was the last thing he did.
“‘Butterflies fly mom. This butterfly can’t do that,’ was his obvious statement to me, asking him not to do what I inherently knew what was coming…”
‘I want to see if the vultures think I’m a dead animal’: Shocking things mom learned after she ‘stopped hurrying’ her son’s childhood
“How many times in a day do you tell your child to ‘hurry up?’ Did you ever just STOP and try to get inside their head?”
Farm animal therapists help children overcome trauma
“Some children are self-conscious about their reading skills, and the animals never judge them. The animals patiently listen to the campers.”
