“When I walked in, he looked at me. I could see the fear in his eyes. He whispered through his tears, ‘I’m scared, I don’t want to go.’ Everything in me wanted to protect him, to hug him and tell him he could stay. That we could figure this out together. With tears streaming down my face and a strength I never knew I had, I said, ‘You have to go.’”
‘I want to help him.’ I’ll never forget his boss’ words to me. I didn’t want people to know.’: Family struggles with husband’s alcohol addiction, ‘We were broken’
‘A bartender who doesn’t drink? You can’t be good at this.’ These bottles nearly killed me.’: Confessions of a sober bartender after she almost lost her life to alcoholism
“Customers get offended when I politely decline a shot. I normally get an eye roll with a response like, ‘I don’t trust a bartender who doesn’t drink.’ Here is my answer. Alcohol nearly killed me. I was a ‘drink til I fall off my barstool’ type of drinker. Hell, I could be taking a tequila shower and I still wouldn’t change my mind.”
‘Umm, I’m 32, DIVORCED WITH TWO KIDS.’ He said, ‘Yeah, we need your consent.’ ‘Yes, I CONSENT!’: Divorced single mom adopted at 32, ‘I wonder if they’re tired of me. I felt like it was too good to be true’
“I ran away from home. I was hiding in a stranger’s garage while my mom and police looked for me. I used a stranger’s phone to call The Pates. ‘I can’t go home, can you help me?’ I feared my mother. The next day she drove me to their house, dumped my belongings at the bottom of their driveway, and left. So, at the age of 32, I was adopted. I got a new birth certificate and everything.”
‘I was diagnosed with cancer, 6 months pregnant, married, with a 10-month-old daughter. I was under attack.’: Mom refuses to abort child despite doctor’s advice, ‘It was up to me to make an impossible decision’
“After my first round of chemo, my husband left me. His family told me he ‘couldn’t stand by and watch the girl he loves, die.’ I filed for a divorce. After 2 more rounds of chemo with my daughter, she was born 6 weeks early. ‘I am leaving this hospital with or without your permission so I can spend Christmas at home with my two daughters.’”
‘Which way did he go?’ This was our great escape. My dad was a monster. I was sworn to secrecy.’: Woman credits foster parents for ‘saving’ her through ‘dark times,’ battling suicidal thoughts, sexual abuse, Bipolar disorder
“My friend asked if I wanted to stay the night. I couldn’t, but asked if she wanted to stay at my house. Before I could even finish, she told me ‘no.’ I shrugged it off, no big deal. A week later, she saw my whole family. That’s when I recognized the fear in her eyes. She had not seen my stepdad since then.”
‘Pull over.’ My husband was next to us at the light. I made eye contact with him. He followed us.’: Wife ‘relieved’ to come clean about ‘living a lie,’ realizes she’s the one who needed to change in marriage
“I got a message on social media from the guy I had dated and lost my virginity to as a teenager. I hadn’t talked to him in a decade. At first, it started out with us just catching up. I enjoyed the friendship and connection. In the beginning, that’s all it was. It breaks my heart to write these words. Something had to give. Something had to change.”
‘You can bring your newborn to class,’ my Dean emails me. I was relieved, but afraid. Will he cry all the time?’: Mom takes newborn to law school classes, does ‘everything in my power’ to give children ‘opportunity to be successful’
“On the last trimester of my pregnancy, I talked with the Dean. ‘I don’t have any support system near me, my husband works full time and takes night courses. I’m supposed to graduate next year. I don’t want to fall behind.’ She looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Tell me who your professors are next semester. I will talk with them personally.’”
‘I didn’t even hurt you that bad.’ I believed it when he said, ‘You pushed me to this point.’: Young woman finds courage to leave abusive boyfriend, urges ‘love isn’t abuse in ANY form’
“I finally found the courage to dial those three numbers. I had my phone taken from me, which created a fight in itself. I was lucky enough to be wearing my Apple Watch which allowed me to call. The EMT looked me in the eyes. ‘Any man that puts his hands on you doesn’t love you.’ His words helped me more than he will ever know.”
‘Alright, I’m cutting open! Get ready to grab.’ Then doctor yelled, ‘He’s out!’ I never heard my son cry.’: Mom rejoices NICU warrior for ‘beating the odds,’ says ‘He’s the strongest person I know’
“All of a sudden, I felt liquid explode out of me… I looked at my nurse. ‘Umm, something just came out of me!’ My nurse lifted up my gown. ‘Her water broke!!!’ Nurses came running in, but the only person who spoke to me was the anesthesiologist. ‘I’m going to stand by your side the whole time. I’ll make sure you’re ok,’ he told me.”
‘This is just my daycare. My mom is coming back for me.’ She never came.’: 22-year-old finally adopted by ‘forever family’ after years of trauma, abuse in foster homes
“The last time a police officer came to my house, he asked, ‘Do you want to go get a cookie?’ I was only 5, so that was a big deal. I didn’t understand why my biological mom was crying as we drove away. We picked up my sister at school, then waited at DHS to drive us to a foster home. All we had were the clothes on our backs, and even those were dirty. ‘I need a place to stay until I figure out where to go,’ I said.”
