“I gasped. I ran back to the garage, flung open the safe, and patted my hand. I felt the plastic sandwich bag. I pulled it out. And there it was. Two perfect pins. The real pins. Not only that, but his nameplate was in there, too. Tucked away. For the right time. Entrusting a stranger with something so personal, so sentimental, was like entrusting his body with the funeral home. I received the call, drove to the shop, my heart racing. ‘Stunning,’ I thought. When my 2 girls opened the jewelry box together, their collective gasps spoke volumes.”
‘Is this the real pin?,’ my daughter squeaked out. ‘Yes, my love, it is.’ ‘From his shirt?’ Her eyes were big and curious.’: Widow’s emotional gift for daughters honors their late father, ‘My hands trembled. It was beautiful, stunning’
‘Are you SURE you can afford that?’ My jaw dropped! Oh. No. She. Didn’t.’: Woman’s plea for kindness during holiday season after ‘real-life Pretty Woman’ moment
“Y’all. As if the Christmas season is not already stressful enough…I was minding my business, heading into the store to buy the watch my husband wants, dressed in leggings and a sweatshirt. I wasn’t aware of any ‘mall dress code.’ The salesperson came over. ‘Can I help you?’ I told her what I was looking for. She looked back at me, totally aghast. ‘Are you SURE? You will be caught stealing, you know?’ My jaw dropped.”
‘My husband complains I never tell him what I want for Mother’s Day. I want to be as clear as possible. Don’t say you DON’T know what we want.’
“3. A break from the kids. Sure, we are celebrating being a mom, but our ideal celebration doesn’t include wiping butts or picking up LEGOs. Give us this day off, please.”
‘Doctors told me I was ‘lying.’ I hadn’t started my period. Before I took the birth control, I took a pregnancy test. It was POSITIVE!? We bought 5 more tests. All of them were positive!’
“I was having vivid, strange dreams. A neighbor said, ‘Are you pregnant?’ I said ‘no’ and cried. A switch flipped in me. I became crazy emotional. I was having day dreams about drilling a hole in my head or cutting it off. I went to doctor after doctor. They all said that it was because of my weight.”
‘I stood in our doorway. After 9 years together, these are the final days of just me and Jake. With an aching I can’t shake, our lives are far from perfect.’
“Tonight, it hit me. These are the good old days. My man, this bedroom, that quilt, those dogs. Now let’s pause for a second and set the record straight.”
‘My mom wanted me to take photos of her, but on one condition…’
“I call this series ‘Grandma: Gone Wild’. She gave them to my Dad for Christmas tonight… Check out his adorable schoolboy reaction at the end!”
‘There is always one day that is simply emotionally confusing: The Ex-Anniversary Date.’
“The first time my ex-anniversary rolled around the calendar I tried to block it out. That lasted about 10 minutes. Suddenly, thoughts and feelings about my divorce started to bubble up. I didn’t know how to feel. I couldn’t keep ignoring my past.”
‘No really, it’s yours. Your dad gave it to me for you.’ My dad had been dead 9 years. I was shaking.’: Marine son receives wedding gift from father in heaven to ‘protect’ him
“I’d never seen it before. It was nice. ‘Well, it’s for you…’ I didn’t understand. My dad had been dead for almost 9 years. There’s no way this was from him. When he was still in the Marine Corps, he’d met with my dad. At this point, I couldn’t see, silently crying. This must’ve happened before I even graduated high school.”
