“For giving my son a warm place to sleep, for allowing my body to stretch enough to create my beautiful son, for creating milk for him to eat.”
‘Thank you Jell-O tummy, thank you stretch marks, thank you droopy boobies.’: Mom finds new beauty in postpartum body
‘Overnight, I went from a happy, active, able-bodied person to paralyzed from the waist down.’: Woman disabled in car accident candidly shares journey to self-acceptance
“I was the wrong passenger, in the wrong car, at the wrong time. After years of hard work to be physically and financially independent, I moved back into my childhood bedroom with my parents at age 24. Friends excused themselves from my life without a word. I stopped being invited places or asked on dates; I began to feel everyone saw me as a burden.”
‘Stop begging God to take this away from you. He gave it to you for a purpose.’: LGBT woman pens powerful letter to past self after coming out of closet
“Right now, I know it seems like there’s no escape. That no matter how hard you try, how fast you run, how fiercely you try to claw your way to freedom from yourself, you sink deeper and deeper into the quicksand of shame and self-resentment. Dear Kahrin, you don’t believe this now, but you will be loved.”
‘Can you step into my office?’ Anticipating an assignment, my research advisor abruptly stated, ‘You know you’re disabled, right?’: Woman diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS discovers identity after lifelong battle with chronic illness
“After months of appointments and ER visits, doctors told me I was ‘just anxious.’ I spent my final year of college nearly bedbound, fully walker-bound. All the activities I built my life around — marching band, the gym, work, parties — fell suddenly away. With that one question, she saved my life.”
‘I want to be Tiana for Halloween!’ he screamed. I stopped listening to others and listened to my kid.’: Mom shares gender fluid parenting journey, ‘Every kid deserves happiness’
“My daughter was so upset. ‘All the kids will make fun of him!’ She began to cry. Each time I look at that picture, my heart melts because I remember the lesson learned that morning.”
‘What is wrong with me?’ The doctor said it like I already knew. I wasn’t sure what to say.’: Neurodivergent woman shares ‘now’ and ‘then’ perspective after multiple diagnoses
“The harder I tried, the more I knew I didn’t fit in. I was hated by those who were supposed to love me, and I hated myself. If I can thrive, anyone can do it.”
‘Treating mental health is more a PRIVILEGE than a CHOICE.” Woman battle self worth urges, ‘Your circumstances don’t define you’
“Drowning your demons in a bottle is both cheaper and more accessible than a good doctor.”
‘She’s out of CONTROL.’ Mom refused to take me to the hospital, despite being covered in blood.’: Autistic woman learns self acceptance after years of abuse
“By the time I was 10, I’d been banned from swimming lessons, a children’s club, and multiple play groups. They told my dad to bring me back once I could ‘behave like other girls.’”
‘My daughter was a bottle of pills away from giving up.’: Mom proudly embraces LGBT daughter
“While others may see a rebellious and misguided sinner, I see a 24-year-old woman who knows how to love and forgive like Jesus.”
‘My mom bought me pink shoes. ‘Those are for girls!’ When she asked if I’d rather be a boy, I said no.’: Non-binary, autistic person with ADHD shares journey
“When I born, the doctor said, ‘You’re going to have your hands full with that one.’ Even from a young age, I never felt like a girl. I wondered what was ‘wrong’ with me.”
