“My right implant had ruptured and was leaking. Then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, my guy of 4 years walked out on me; he couldn’t handle all of it anymore. I lost most of my own breasts, then my partner, and now my ovaries were shutting down, too.”
‘I received a recall letter in the mail from the manufacturer of my implants.’: Mom of 4 details sudden journey with breast implant illness, pre-menopause, alopecia, and separation all in same year
‘The doctor leaned in. ‘Your body is not damaged. Stop the surgeries, stop the fertility treatments. Something is missing, and I’m going to find out what it is.’: Woman pregnant with rainbow baby thanks doctor’s kindness, ‘She spoke life into me’
“You have a 2% chance of ever conceiving a child.’ I didn’t know when or how it would happen, but I felt it deep within my soul.”
‘The officer said, ‘There’s been an incident at the pool.’ I expected stitches. ‘I’m going to get right to the point, Jason died tonight.’: Woman diagnosed with cancer after husband’s death, ‘I’m choosing to LIVE’
“We sat in a circle on a bedroom floor. ‘Last night daddy went swimming. His body died. He won’t come home ever again.’ One week after the funeral, I received a call: ‘You have cancer, and not the run-of-the-mill kind. It travels distantly and doesn’t always respond to treatments.’ The rubble of my life had just caught fire.”
‘He is my ‘Practice Child.’ The oldest of five. Sometimes I lay my head on his tall shoulder and say, ‘I wish I could’ve done better for you.’: Woman reminds us ‘you are just the right mom for the job’
“I remember my eyes settled on the look of deep despair spreading across his little 3-year-old face. ‘But Momma…without water we’ll DIE!!’ What kind of mother lets this happen? I felt like a failure. 15 years of parenting later, I wish I could say I have it all figured out.”
‘Complete strangers came to my rescue. They dove in the water, dug trenches, and scraped their knees.’: Woman touched by acts of kindness after losing treasured wedding ring in ocean
“I screamed and cried, and my friends and family came running. Tom, a very sweet man about to turn 60, told us he’d been metal detecting for 35 years. I believe the entire island knew our story, and him, before we left.”
‘I slid onto the floor as I heard the doctor speak. ‘Why do I have to have cancer again, Mama?’ Time seemed to freeze.’: Girl battles neuroblastoma, ‘Izzy continued to fight and the rest of the world just kept going’
“The call came just like it does in the movies. I sat in a rocking chair in her room and slid onto the floor as I heard the doctor speak. I stared at this little play clock. I can still see it so vividly — its tiny yellow hands stood still on its pink face. Time seemed to freeze in those moments. I would remember it as the day our life stopped.”
‘Please stop judging me for leaving the office at exactly 5 p.m. Being a full-time working mom with young kids is not easy.’: Mom pens thank-you letter to those who have shown her ‘grace’
“I know I’m missing this meeting, but my kid’s preschool graduation is more important. I know I was late today, but I can’t drop the baby off at daycare until 7:45 a.m. I know I seem distracted, but I am. I have an inconsolable, sick toddler and I’ve been awake since 4:30 a.m. I’m supposed to leave my personal life at the door when I come to the office, but when you are a mom to two small kids, that is hard to do.”
‘She may never walk again,’ my doctor said. ‘Like hell,’ I thought. I was 17. I’d been in a car accident.’: Single mom overcomes crippling car accident, alcoholism, daughter’s autism diagnosis, says ‘don’t count yourself out’
“I was about to move out, but I found out I was pregnant. I was running on fumes. I felt like I’d made a huge mistake becoming a mom. I wasn’t good at this. I drank to cope. My marriage ended explosively. I finally decided enough was enough when my daughter started copying everything I do. She reached for my beer, and I remember deciding, it was time to be done. For good. That was 8 months ago.”
‘My husband and I were in the Dominican Republic. We took a private horseback riding tour around the island. It was everything you’d think it would be.’: Mom learns important life lesson on vacation
“So, I made a comment just like that to our guide, about his luck to live in such paradise. But what he said in response really struck me.”
‘It was playtime on the playground. My student looked anxious. I climbed to get closer to him, placed my foot on the rail and tumbled, hitting my head on a metal pole. I fell to the ground.’
“That’s it. That’s all it took. Five minutes to change my entire life.”
