“I put the sheet around my neck and waited. I just couldn’t let go. I could hear the voices in my head saying, ‘You can’t even do this right.’ When I was released from prison, my family wouldn’t take me in. After too many broken promises, they were done with me. I owed $33,000 in child support and $100,000 for my crimes. ‘You’re going to be okay.’ My prisonmates saved my life. They took me in when I was too far gone.”
‘You’ll never get out of this hole. Just go back to your old friend, heroin.’ I spent the night in jail, tying bedsheets around my neck.’: Man who battled addiction 9 years now owner of state’s largest recovery center
‘You’re going to do exactly what I tell you.’ He grabbed my throat. The devil was staring me in the face. Fear washed over my body.’: Young woman survives sexual assault in woods, ‘I refuse to hide. I need others to know they aren’t alone’
“A boat was pulling up, and two guys were inside. They said, ‘Who is this?’ I was confused. He was locking up his truck and his friends told him to hurry the hell up. He responded, ‘Hey at least I brought you guys some tail.’ My stomach sank, my heart started to race. I had recently been told I overreact…was this just an overreaction to a dumb joke? I went in the tent to grab a shirt because I was freezing. He followed me in and starting kissing me. My ‘no’ didn’t matter. I burst into tears. He looked at me with disgust. ‘I don’t like your attitude.’”
‘I chose to wear headphones. I didn’t want to hear or see Lily, afraid she would die. I kept my eyes affixed on my husband.’: Parents who lost twin daughter navigate marriage through tragedy, ‘We weren’t remotely prepared for what lay ahead’
“My husband encouraged me to look at my 1-pound daughter. If Lily died, we agreed to sell all our belongings and move to a beach in Hawaii, disappearing until we felt strong enough to return – but Pat knew Lily was strong enough to survive. I had intense, terrifying thoughts. This is not what we anticipated when we took our vows, but we faced each day together. We’ve come so far from stupid teenagers breaking curfew for 5 more minutes together, but if they could look ahead, I know they’d be pretty damn proud of us, too.”
‘Get him out! That’s Adam!’ He slipped off the ledge and tried to yell ‘Mommy!’: Mother shares ‘nightmare’ of 5-year-old son’s near-drowning in pool full of adults as warning for parents
“I watched as water and vomit poured out of his mouth, eyes swollen and rubbery looking. Then a miracle happened! He showed sign of life. ‘There he is!’ My baby was still with me! This was 100% preventable. This happened in a pool full of people. A pool full of ADULTS.”
‘I don’t want to live with a liar.’ I told him, ‘It’s up to you to figure out how to save this marriage now if you still want it.’: Woman strives to save marriage despite affair
“‘I am all in this marriage, I want you, I choose you,’ he said. It has been 8 months now since I found out my husband had an affair.”
‘My daughter looked up at me. ‘What’s that,’ she innocently asked. I wiped away tears. ‘I miss your brother and sister.’ She leaned her head against mine. ‘I miss them too,’ she whispered.’
“As I opened her closet door, something tumbled to the ground. I reached down and picked up the small storage container, knowing instantly what was inside. I took a deep breath as I rubbed my fingers across the sticker that said ‘hospital things.’”
‘I’ll be the mom crying on the first day of school, but my tears will be for a different reason.’
“Life threw my family a curveball, forcing us to navigate through a dark, grief-stricken road after two of our children died.”
I was the perfect mom. Until I had kids.
“That’s when I saw you. A beautiful young woman who presumably doesn’t yet have children of her own. Another perfect (albeit, kidless) mom, just as I had been once upon a time. I recognized the look in your eyes.”
