“I felt like the life had been sucked from me. ‘What are we going to do?’ I’ve never felt so helpless. We thought it was impossible for our hearts to break any further, but they did.”
‘Is Nicole going to die?’ It started with a twitch. Then she turned blue. It was like an arrow to the heart.’: Sisters diagnosed with ‘ultra-rare’ Batten Disease, ‘We’ll never stop fighting for them’
‘I think it’s happening again.’ I tried to bury my fears, but couldn’t deny it. Lightning had struck twice.’: Sisters diagnosed with ‘ultra rare’ infantile spasms, ‘They share a deep connection’
“We were sent home with shattered dreams and heavy hearts. They didn’t make eye contact and ate through a tube. Doctors told us we’d have to wait for science to catch up. Their ‘Good luck’ as we walked out the door felt like a kick in the gut.”
‘Don’t BUG me, I’m having the baby and it ends up where it ends up.’ Mom refused medical care. It was a waiting game.’: Parents foster-to-adopt siblings, ‘We can’t wait to see who comes next’
“‘It’s a girl! I don’t know where she is!’ I sent her a backpack full of food, toiletries, notes from our daughter, prenatal vitamins and clothes, yet she wouldn’t accept it.”
‘They will fight and argue, but they are forever protectors. Their specific hearts needed one another, and God knew it before I did.’: Mom cherishes sacred bond between siblings
“I planned the age separation between my two kids. I imagined their genders, I played out scenarios. I planned my pregnancy and c-section. And in true God fashion, all MY plans got tossed to the wayside. At the time it felt cruel. Now I know, God’s timing was, and is, perfect.”
‘We don’t have a perfect relationship. We yell, we cry, we get into petty fights. But in the end, we’d give our lives for one another.’: Woman shares ode to sister, ‘God gave me my best friend through biology’
“No one can make me as angry as my sister. However, no one can make me feel more loved. God gave me my best friend through biology.”
‘She looks at her like she holds all of the secrets to the world. She had a 10% chance of making it. I begged God for time together.’: Woman births baby with Trisomy 18, ‘I never believed in soulmates until then’
“We made a bear with her voice saying, ‘I love you, Charlotte.’ She was scared Charlotte would forget the sound of her voice. I will never forget the look on her face when my friend dropped her off.”
‘You drive me to drink. I wish I never had you!’ It was a nightmare. We suffered in silence.’: Abuse and bullying survivor urges, ‘Be kind to one another’
“My own mother said, ‘You’re a mistake’ to me and my sisters. I started self-harming and fell into a deep depression. I actually believed what I’d been told.”
‘My two sisters went off to college, I went to prison. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t matter how you were raised.’: Recovered addict reminds us ‘addiction doesn’t discriminate’
“For every family member blaming themselves, racking their brain of where exactly it went wrong, beating themselves up, crying themselves to sleep, and thinking it was something they did…it’s not your fault. And it’s too heavy to carry.”
‘Your sister passed away.’ In a matter of years, I lost half my immediate family. This grief is not linear.’: Woman pens moving grief journey, ‘I live every day with authenticity’
“My cousin showed up at my house. Though her voice was calm when she arrived, I knew in that moment my sister was gone. Her death would be under investigation. She’d been struggling for months.”
‘Do you know why your REAL parents didn’t want you?’ They wonder how much I ‘cost.’ Truth is, love has no limits. Family is not confined or defined by blood.’: Transracial adoptee details journey, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing’
“I was left on the street four days after I was born. Somebody I don’t know took me to the police station. ‘Emma, why do your eyes look like that?’ ‘Are those REALLY your sisters?’ I cherish the only family I have ever known. Love knows no boundaries.”
