“My father would call me ‘sissy’ and ‘mama’s boy,’ and it hurt. A lot. Words like these never leave you. But it forced me to rise up.”
‘Dad repeated, ‘I put it in his hands!’ How could he have given his son lethal narcotics? I was frozen in shock.’: Man recounts brother’s overdose, homophobia, ‘Learn from your hardships’
‘My leg broke out of nowhere. ‘I need to, literally, cut my losses.’ Nothing was the same again.’: Woman becomes amputee, ‘I don’t regret it for one second’
“I realized I was there but didn’t really feel present. It was as if I was behind a glass wall, watching everyone else. At that moment, something in my brain clicked. I couldn’t do it anymore. I knew what I had to do.”
‘He was cheating. ‘How will we break it to the kids?’ I waddled through bankruptcy. Divorce was the lifesaver I needed.’: Divorcee details journey to self-love
“A dear friend mentioned therapy, very casually over delicious avocado toast and latte. I finally bit the bullet and gave in. I cried so hard I could feel the ghosts of all my unspoken terrors lifting off my shoulders.”
‘I love you, Mommy. I love you. MOMMY!’ She interrupted her daddy’s beratements. He was a pastor and he ‘never’ laid a hand on me.’: Domestic abuse survivor urges ‘every soul has the power to fight’
“That—it turns out—was the slap in the face I needed. I was a victim of domestic violence. After all, he was a pastor and he never laid a hand on me.”
‘I felt my elbows tingle and collapsed. Even my organs were paralyzed. I had to push the call button with my neck.’: Stroke survivor creates inclusive dance company
“I collapsed and found myself unable to move my arms and legs. The nurse had to carry me to the bathroom. I was in shock. It felt like a door had been slammed in my face.”
‘Suck it up. You’re fine.’ She took a bad fall. I was too traumatized to step foot in a hospital.’: Young widow has realization about ‘grief management’ after daughter crashes bike
“My daughter head-slammed to the ground. It happened when I was in the deepest pain of my life, betrayed and hurt by the one person I thought I could count on after my husband died. I panicked.”
‘I just want to run my car into the wall.’ He became short with us. Our arguments were violent. I tried so hard to reach him.’: Mom of 4 loses husband to suicide, ‘I choose love over bitterness’
“After we lost Hannah, he began spiraling. One night, he came home extremely late and he was crying. His drinking increased. I tried to reach out to him but his personality was split in two.”
‘I saw a message from a woman I didn’t know. My husband’s breath caught. I was already pregnant.’: After infidelity, single mom learns to thrive with medically complex son
“I watched as they wheeled his small body out of the room, shattered I hadn’t even been able to touch my baby. Suddenly, I had to provide for myself and my son. Motherhood already looked nothing like I had expected.”
‘Your heart is abnormal.’ I sent emails for a month with no reply. I already fainted at work and threw up blood.’: Woman with congenital heart defect shares struggles, ‘Keep fighting, warriors’
“I was constantly having hot flashes. I ended up throwing up blood and fainted at work. ’Go to Urgent Care.’ They weren’t really sure what was causing my problems. I was constantly waiting in the doctor’s office to get bad news.”
‘I gently patted my son’s back when I heard a crackling, wheezing sound. ‘Something’s wrong, I just know it,’ I told my husband.’: Mom candidly shares journey with parenting PTSD
“I cried to the nurse on the hotline, ‘It sounds like he has fluid in his chest.’ I would sit nursing my son, crying endlessly in that rocking chair. Every breath my son took heightened my already over-the-top anxiety attack. I knew it wasn’t just anxiety. It was something more. This was the start of so many triggers.”
