“The Strong Black woman stereotype implies we are strong, which should be a good thing, but it often isn’t so.”
‘Black women are resilient because we have to be, not because we are stronger than you.’: Woman urges ‘our pain is real, physical and emotional’
‘Call your work, Dan’s work, Dan’s best friend, and then give me your phone.’ I felt guilty for falling asleep, for not being strong enough to give him CPR.’: Widow credits ‘tribe’ for healing through grief
“Living in the thick of the fire, my tribe was there to hold my hand as I walked through. I found myself sitting on a doctor’s couch the following Tuesday, sobbing tears of grief and agony. They helped me make sense of the madness and encouraged me to feel again.”
‘Starved for love, I made disastrous decisions. Eventually, I turned to food. I weighed in at 391 pounds, my body just as unhealthy as my soul.’: Survivor details battle with demons, ‘I am a beautiful disaster’
“Frozen in fear, you lay in your bed with that twisted knot in your stomach. There is always the question: who protected the little girl with the big, brown eyes? The answer? A resounding no one. I was a little girl.”
‘There’s no way to prove he didn’t know you didn’t want it.’ Fighting back tears, I said, ‘I was asleep.’: Sexual assault survivor represses memory for 3 years. ‘If this is what I needed to go through to learn all of this, then I am thankful’
“Every so often, the officer would say, ‘It doesn’t seem like you knew him really well.’ I was getting so frustrated. Does it matter? Would that change things?”
‘How are you holding up?’ I gripped the steering wheel, my eyes so blurry I couldn’t see the road. She isn’t a friend I talk with often, but she’s a friend who asks the tough questions, and then just shuts up.’: Woman thankful for true friend during hardships
“My mom had just been diagnosed with advanced cancer, and I was also busy caring for a newborn along with a potty-training two-year-old. ‘How are you REALLY holding up?’ She gave me THE LOOK—you know, the ‘don’t BS with me’ look.”
‘I cried at Walmart this morning and wiped away tears as I stared at all the empty shelves. This is the most comfort I’ve felt in a while.’: Woman says ‘this virus has done very ugly things, but it has also brought us together’
“The board games are gone because families are playing together. Paint is wiped out because people are creatively expressing themselves. Children’s books are missing because parents and siblings are reading to each other. Around 5:00 p.m. EVERY evening, the driveways down my street are full of families and their kids playing in the yard.”
‘The word ‘miscarriage’ sounds like the woman miss-carried and she’s to blame for her loss. And you know what, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.’: After miscarriage, woman says ‘there is pain because there is and was love’
“I was pregnant for a few short days with baby #4 only to have that ‘PREGNANT’ reading turn to ‘NOT PREGNANT’ in a matter of 72 hours. I had gotten excited. I had told the kids. When a woman miscarries, she will never not be carrying the pain of that loss within her. I beg you, don’t dare miss a chance at being there for her. It was me. It could be you. Or it might be her.”
‘You’re the girl who cries on her way to work but walks in with a smile on her face. The girl who never asks for help.’: Woman reminds us ‘there is no shame in being vulnerable’
“I never reached out to anyone for help in any way — whether it be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, or just some advice, support, and borrowed strength. I know many reading this have been there as well. We are not so different.”
‘Breathe in slow,’ my mother said. Our hands interlocked as the long needle entered my back. She gripped me with her hands.’: Woman recounts how mother saved her life, ‘Moms have this magic way of easing pain’
“The deadly bacterial infection spread to my heart. The machine next to my bed started beeping wildly. I remember the fluorescent lights burning my eyes. The beeps kept getting louder, louder. My mother flew over, piling blankets over me. Though my mother was not calm this time, I breathed her in. That’s all I remember. No pain.”
‘I’m not in love with you. I haven’t been since you got pregnant.’ He didn’t shed a tear. He turned his back and went to sleep.’: Couple learn to peacefully co-parent after separation, ‘Our love for our little girl comes first’
“‘I was waiting for the right time to tell you.’ It was 2 a.m. on a Sunday night, our little girl sleeping so peacefully on my chest. Memories of our honeymoon, our wedding anniversary just weeks before crowded in on me. How long had I been living a lie? I remember wishing I could tell him to get out. I was paralyzed. He turned his back, went to sleep as I lay awake, sobbing. Every night, I’d dream about hurting him. I had so much anger hidden away, I was afraid I’d explode.”
