“There was no looking back. Kids knew to hide, and run as fast as you could, even if you got separated from your parents.”
‘As a little girl, I remember running in the forest over dead bodies, hearing gunshots, and seeing people killed by machetes. I don’t think we ever slept.’: Refugee shares overcoming painful past through ‘kind people’
‘I find myself apologizing a lot lately. ‘Hey, I’m so sorry, can we reschedule?’ ‘Man, I forgot to respond to your text, I’m so sorry.’ I’m saying I’m sorry ALL. THE. TIME.’
“Can I be honest for a second? I don’t want to be apologizing anymore.”
‘Are you sure you want to marry her? She comes from a broken home. Her parents are divorced.’: Woman assures others they are not defined by something that happened in their past
“My heart sank into my stomach as I read those words. They were written in a letter addressed to my soon to be husband.”
‘What’s going on, dear?’ Weeping, I shamefully got in the front seat. The veins in my neck bulging like a hose.’: Woman living in ‘epic bliss’ after overcoming extreme PTSD, ‘I transformed from victim to viking’
“‘Stay with us Katie, stay with us.’ I either had the option of being victim to my trauma or I had to stare at it head on, whatever that meant. I trusted her. I had to put on my big girl panties and fiercely bring light to my inside compass. At a ripe 19-years-old, I wasn’t expecting to be fighting for my life, especially at a random house party.”
‘Every doctor told me, ‘He will be brain damaged. We just have to see how much.’ They wanted to put me under, but I said, ‘If I am put under, I will never wake up.’
“Something felt ‘off.’ She noticed the same thing. Then, things moved quickly. They had never seen this happen.”
‘The mother left them like this. Our 3-year-old Lily looks up at me longingly. ‘Mommy, can baby stay?’: Family founds children’s hospital to help orphans
“’How old is he?’ I asked. ‘More than 4,’ the relative said quietly. ‘Months?’ I asked. ‘No, 4 years,’ he clarified. ‘This is his twin sister,’ he said pointing to Selena. There were no shoes, socks, or undergarments. I pressed him against my body, attempting to cover him as best I could as we passed the crowds of school children on the street.”
‘He looks at me. ‘What’s wrong?’ I respond, ‘I’ve been punched by your son and your daughter has done a massive poop in the bath.’: Mom recounts funny ‘stay at home mom’ instance
“He hands me a paper towel. I mean dude, what the hell am I gonna do with a paper towel? Dry the poop? Soak the bath water?”
‘Don’t worry, you’re young and have plenty of time,’ is what a complete stranger said to me at work. He asked me how many kids I had. ‘None yet!’
“I’ve gotten the ‘Why did you rush into marriage?’ question, because I was married at 22 years old. But being young isn’t doing me any favors.”
‘You can’t do this. You’re 27.’ My husband was untraceable. I couldn’t divorce a man I couldn’t find.’: Woman marries divorce lawyer who comforted her in aftermath of domestic abuse
“I wasn’t like him. He was a prestigious lawyer, while I was a beaten, broken, and utterly lost human being. I’d lost all of my future at the altar 8 years earlier. I didn’t say anything as I tried to choke back the tears. Eventually he said, ‘let me help you,’ breaking the silence, and branding the words onto my heart.”
‘I awoke to no vision in my right eye. I was sitting on a lobby floor, half dressed, my friend begging me to stand up.’: Woman overcomes decades of alcohol abuse, now nearly 2 years sober
“I woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed covered in my own vomit, dirt and mud caked in my ears and under my perfectly manicured acrylic nails, having no idea where I was, how I got there, or what was next. Thank God it was a hospital where law enforcement had arrested me and not in some stranger’s basement.”