“I tried to hide it from my parents but their child had changed and they knew something had happened. I walked onto the bridge with tears in my eyes. This is how I would do it. She watched me, and through the grace of God, decided she should call the police. This woman, I truly believe, was an angel.”
‘I remember saying the very words, ‘Not her.’ That was my breaking point. Hurt me, but not my sister. I threatened to tell my mommy what they did.’: After surviving abuse, cancer woman says ‘sometimes just having someone to talk to is enough’
‘My ex sat me down on the couch and said, ‘I will never be able to love you for the way you look.’ He stood up and left, forever.’: Woman describes her journey to ‘love myself fully again’
“That day broke me. Not because my boyfriend left, not because of the things he said. But because in one moment, I lost the dearest, most precious thing any of us have – I lost myself. I moved cities, countries, and even continents. It’s been 3 months and 3 years since he took my love away.”
‘It bothers people that I’m confident. When I started casually dating after he passed away, people were not okay with that.’: Confident widow encourages others to ‘throw out expectations of self-pity’
“Recently, my daughter has experienced bullying at school. The people who have been unkind to her likely have no idea what we’ve been through the last 2 years. They just see a target and go after her relentlessly. This body has carried me through hell and back.”
‘Maybe her shorts are too short, her jeans too tight. Maybe you think her dress is too revealing. What you don’t see is a woman falling apart.’: Woman urges ‘we are all just trying to do our best’
“You deem her unworthy before she even has the chance to speak for herself. She’s not a woman who finally found the courage to be who she is, dress how she wants, stand up for what she believes in. Trying not to let the coldness and cruelty of this world break her. Instead, she gets labeled. Simply because she just exists.”
‘Dear teenage sister, I tried commenting on this photo you posted, but noticed you deleted it 2 minutes later because it didn’t get enough likes.’: Woman pens touching letter to younger sister
“I write this with a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes. I feel sick at the thought kids your age don’t know how amazing you are, how LOVED you are. Not just ‘liked’ on Instagram, but insurmountably loved. Here. In real life. Just as you are. I promise no app, no social media platform, or amount of internet followers will ever scratch the surface of your worth.”
‘I’d get married at Taco Bell and wear a piece of string around my finger if it meant spending the rest of my life with the person I adore.’: After abusive relationship, woman says marriage isn’t about material possessions.
“I had it all — the cars, the house, the material things. When I got married, I ignored all of the glaring red flags and thought maybe he would change. The truth of the matter was he was not the right person for me. I had no idea how to get out. I felt stuck. What would I do if I left? It took me a while to realize my happiness was worth so much more than any financial security or material comfort.”
‘I left a toxic relationship, loaded up whatever I could fit in my 2-door coupe, and moved to a state where I knew no one.’: Mom says ‘the true fairytale on Valentine’s Day is that I found myself’
“Pretty soon social media will be overflowing with hearts, flowers, and all sorts of mushy feelings. Bless us, we love a good commercialized holiday. But my heart is with the ones who are single, unsettled, and still searching. To the wife who sent her spouse to work today without a kiss, because there’s so much distance between them right now it’s insufferable.”
‘I was served divorce papers at my therapist’s office 2 weeks after we slept together. The back and forth between his mistress and I was enough to kill me.’: Woman overcomes infidelity, ‘Divorce was my liberation and I didn’t even know it’
“My husband partied the night away. When I asked where he was, I was told, ‘None of your business. I’m not coming home.’ I threw what little clothing he had into a few bags and tossed them onto his parents’ front yard. The back and forth between his mistress and I was enough to kill me.”
‘Why bother?’ She asks herself. ‘Why put myself through it all again this month.’ She walks past this test in Target, and gives it a doubtful glance.’: Woman urges those battling infertility ‘you are not broken’ in viral pregnancy test post
“To any woman picking this box up to stare at it in longing, in mourning, in hesitation. To wonder. To wish. To throw it in her shopping cart again this month. Throwing it in with hope. With fear. With premature excitement. With anticipation. With a sense of dread that it may just be another down the drain waste basket Walmart drop of $12.98.”
‘I go hunting. This is a picture of me hunting tonight. No guns. No animals. But I assure you, I am hunting. Let me explain.’: Woman’s version of hunting is self care, husband supports her, ‘He knows I need it’
“Sometimes during the week, I’ll be exhausted. Just completely worn out from the day. I’ll come home, and Adam will have supper cooked. Usually, I clean up the dishes, and we take turns with baby baths/bedtime routines. But I have a complete pass on responsibilities when I really need it. All I say is, ‘I’m going hunting.’ Adam just smiles and nods.”
