“Flesh peeled away from my exposed wound and floated like confetti all around me as I sat in excruciating pain. I will never forget the smell. ‘You outta play the lottery, kid! You hit the proverbial jackpot, not once, but twice. What are the odds!’ It was spreading to my ‘good’ leg. There was no more Lara left, only pain. I was told it was all in my head.”
‘I crumpled to the ground. ‘She’s a crybaby,’ the doctor said. ‘There’s nothing wrong. She’s wasting our time, take her home.’ I was misdiagnosed as a hysterical teen girl.’: Chronic illness warrior runs for first time in 29 years
‘Look at you, puttin’ on lipstick to go to the cemetery,’ my husband teased, whistling at me. I didn’t plan to see a living soul there.’: Woman realizes during quarantine, ‘Fear is no match for God’s love’
“I hadn’t left our property for over a week. I applied a full face of makeup to go for a walk in the cemetery. I didn’t plan to see a living soul there. My heart leapt! There it was. It felt like genuine joy. For many, it will be life changing. And it’s so scary.”
‘It’s best not to run anymore.’ And just like that, I gave up another piece of me. You bet I’d do it a thousand times over.’: Woman pens appreciation letter for the unseen sacrifices of motherhood
“I’ve said goodbye to perky boobs and stretch mark-free legs. But THIS. It’s one of MY things. We all have them. The little pieces of ourselves we give away so passively when the world isn’t looking. We talk about the big things we give up—our careers, the way our bodies look. But we also give up what make us US. Tonight, I mourn the loss of something I wanted in my life, in exchange for something I want much more.”
‘I am done trying to cram him in a box he was never made to fit into. I have to let it go before it kills my little boy’s spirit, or worse, our relationship.’: Mom quits working so hard to raise a ‘well-rounded child’
“I lost it and yelled in a tone that shocked me and scared him. I wondered what my little boy thought. I wondered if he still knew I love him. I am losing my opportunity to enjoy him because I am so wrapped up in fixing him – but the truth is, he isn’t broken, and he doesn’t need to be fixed.”
‘FREEZE. DON’T MOVE,’ I whispered. This was it. He knew I was escaping. The music stopped. ‘Run, run now!’: Woman escapes abusive relationship, re-marries, ‘I am now loving every waking moment on earth’
“I needed someone to tell in case I went ‘missing.’ Our house was in the middle of a hill, covered by woods. ‘Mom, please come.’ With the highest anxiety I’d ever felt in my life, I slowly closed the door. This was it. My goodbye after 13 years. My kids smiled in the backseat, oblivious. ‘Go!’ I turned off my location and watched in the mirror as we drove away.”
‘I lounged on the couch, eating fried food and Oreos. I binge watched TV shows. To be honest, I disappeared from the normal world.’
“Ever since my breast reduction, my cancer diagnosis, my husband accepting a new job, packing up the house to move, staying 6 months and moving right back, I haven’t wanted to move an INCH. Then, just like that, my season of rest was over.”
‘Bri, the smell is getting worse.’ I open the cabinet under the sink. My dad screams, ‘The house is on fire, we need to get out!’
“All of a sudden, a large cloud of smoke starts creeping in – and fast.”
‘Lose the weight. I got pictures back, and my smile quickly faded. The first thought that rushed to my mind was: Lose the weight. You’re too puffy.’
“I was consumed with this overwhelming self-hate. I just wanted to feel beautiful again. You can’t. You won’t.”
‘We saw the flames come over the ridge. I lost it. It was decision making time. We needed to get married.’
“We got orders to evacuate the premises. We were pronounced husband and wife, told, ‘you may kiss the bride,’ we kissed, and then we RAN.”
‘When I was by myself, so deep in the woods the trail was invisible, I considered turning back.’ Woman eloquently describes her journey with running
“If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.”
– John Bingham
