passed away

‘She said, ‘It’s your dad. There’s something wrong. The cops said they found him on the ground.’ We still had so many questions.’: Woman details life with drug-addicted father, ‘I’m not mad at you’

“‘You need to stop what you’re doing or you’ll end up dead.’ I’d see him drive by with another woman. When my mom decided to divorce him, he didn’t show up. We stood at the court house and looked out the window from the top floor. The doctor approached my brother and I. ‘You have to make a decision to let him off the machines.’ We still had so many questions.”

Edited By Elizabeth Grow

‘Then I received this email. ‘Hi there, My dad has been fighting cancer. Dad is getting weaker by the day. We have to do this as soon as possible.’

“I couldn’t keep it together to talk on the phone. This is a very difficult and dark time, but I know how you feel about love. We are throwing this plan together really fast. We don’t know how long we have.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘You can’t leave me until we’re married.’ I ran to the jewelry store for a ring. I told her she was my life. She smiled as she looked up.’: Man marries ‘best friend’ 19 hours before she passed away

“When I spoke to the chaplain, he advised me his schedule was open until the 16th. My response was, ‘I was thinking tonight at 7:30.’”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘Brandy, will you marry me’ was painted on his belly. He was down on one knee. I was in shock.’: After husband’s sudden death, wife’s powerful tribute will bring you to tears

“I sent a text asking how his day was. No answer. I called, he didn’t answer. I started to worry. I left work and drove home. As I pulled onto my street, I got an eerie feeling. I got inside, walked up the stairs to our room, and that is when I knew. He was gone.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘Can you do the session tomorrow? We don’t have much time.’ I couldn’t hold back my tears.’: Photographer captures ‘bittersweet’ moments one day before baby passes from Microcephaly

“The next day, I showed up for the photo shoot. As soon as his mom brought him in, I was immediately teary-eyed. But they weren’t tears of pity, it was genuinely pure joy. He was the cutest little fighter I’d ever seen. See, baby Aiden was supposed to be stillborn, but he came out fighting. I cried, prayed, yelled, and cried some more the entire 45-minute drive home. I woke up the next morning to a message that he died. I am a wreck right now.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘He woke with a small cough. Within hours, he had trouble breathing. A few hours after that, he took his last breath.’: Woman’s husband who ‘never got sick’ passes suddenly from Bone Marrow Failure months before birth of son

“My husband, Jonas, began to look pale. We both chalked it up to jet lag and went on with the week. We had two small children and I was 14 weeks pregnant with our third, so being tired wasn’t out of the norm. Later that week, even picking up the kids’ toys would make him dizzy. Another week went by, all the while he continued to ride his bicycle over 20 miles a day. He came home that night after riding and had almost passed out while riding. ‘Enough is enough.’ I figured it couldn’t hurt to go to the doctor.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘You are NOT a widow.’

“It might be meant to be funny and it might be catchy, but if you are saying it and your husband is still alive, you are using the term wrong. You are not a widow.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘853 days. That’s how much time my son spent with his biological parents before they both tragically passed away. While legally my adopted son, he is biologically my brother.

“Easton lost his mom to an overdose, and then we both lost our father 12 days later to pancreatic cancer. Today marks the day that he has officially spent more time with us, than he ever did with his biological parents. Let that sink in.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy