“I changed my name and perfected my accent. No one knew about my past. I exercised, dieted, tanned, toned, concealed, and accentuated—all for attention. Then I noticed muscle weakness. At that moment, I knew.”
‘I was called a ‘big-nosed Jew.’ I NEEDED to fit in. When I got my diagnosis, I was in denial. My disability was the first thing people saw.’: Woman with muscular dystrophy finds self-acceptance, ‘I’m unapologetically me’
‘You know I’m in a wheelchair, right?’ I canceled our date. I limited myself on the love I truly deserved.’: Interabled couple share love story, ‘Our relationship is 50/50, no matter what society thinks’
“Plenty of guys asked creepy questions or even had a wheelchair fetish. My hopes were never high. He changed the course of my life with one message. ‘Hi.’ Teenage me would have never imagined this kind of love for herself.”
‘The doctor said, ‘It’s just teenage girl stuff.’ I was living with everyday pain as if it were normal, forced to accept feeling this way forever.’: Young woman shares journey to Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis, ‘My life is just beginning’
“I was 21, almost done with my senior year of college. These were supposed to be the best years of my life, yet every day I felt sick and exhausted and no doctor could tell me why. I was told it was ‘all in my head.’ I lost friends because no one could understand. Soon, I was withdrawing from my semester from a hospital bed.”
‘If you tell anyone about this, you won’t live.’ I was determined to break the generational curses and trauma. Survival mode kicked in.’: Abuse survivor shares journey to healing and self-love
“At 3 years old, I was forced to drink raw eggs and smoke half of a cigarette by my mom’s boyfriend. The court system failed me. At 19, I became homeless. I tried to leave my relationship but found myself fighting an uphill battle. By the time I had my second daughter, I knew I needed to find a way out.”
‘It was a Tuesday night when I phoned my parents at 1 a.m. whimpering, ‘Mom, I have a really bad feeling about my marriage…’: Brave survivor explains being stuck in 13-year-long abusive relationship without knowing
“My parents pulled up with their pick-up truck and helped me flee. I left with $400, my cat, and my car. I’d been in an abusive relationship for 13 years… without even knowing it.”
‘What’s wrong with her?’ I’d sit in the corner and draw for hours. I always knew something was different about me.’: Woman shares autism diagnosis journey, ‘Different is beautiful’
“People would say hello to me, and I’d ignore them. There’s a myth black girls don’t have autism, so they didn’t think to test me. I was called crazy, moody, shy, or a brat, but I was far from any of those things.”
‘How can ‘I’ be gay?’ Gay guys have great hair, creamy skin, and abs. I had a HUGE belly hanging over my pants.’: Gay man learns body acceptance, ‘Being plus-sized doesn’t define me’
“Nothing fit right. My mom brought me to the ‘husky’ section. ‘What does husky mean?’ She said, ‘It’s for boys like you.’ BOOM. There it was. It wasn’t what she said. It was how she said it, in an almost hush, as if it was something embarrassing to be discussed.”
‘You put the kids before me.’ I didn’t realize I’d failed him, too. I truly assumed love would be enough.’: Mom of 3 discovers husband’s infidelity, goes on ‘journey to redefine our family’
“There were warning signs, but I thought we just needed time to find our groove. While he was away on a ‘business trip,’ he left his Sprint account open. It blew up in my face. I felt like I was failing my daughters.”
‘You need to go to the ER immediately.’ I felt like my body was failing me. I continued to hide my condition until I almost DIED.’: Ballerina with diabetes shares acceptance journey, ‘Keep fighting’
“I was training hard and eating healthy, but still gaining weight. My instructor told my mom I was ‘fat.’ Something in my body was wrong. A few months later, I’d be in the ICU fighting for my life.”
‘Society says divorce ruins people. You’re flawed for not ‘fixing’ or ‘fighting’ for your marriage. But there’s a deeper meaning.’: Mom of 3 is ‘grateful’ for divorce, ‘This was meant to make me grow’
“I felt constantly judged, criticized, unsupported, and disconnected. I was craving for this love within, yet it was so difficult to make it click. What if we walked into relationships sans the attachment to forever?”
