“By the time I was 14, I dreaded my period every month. I couldn’t leave the house in fear I’d leak through my clothes. The pain had me bedridden for days.”
‘Every day was a bloodbath. ‘It’s normal for teen girls.’ Little did I know, a storm was brewing on my insides.’: Endometriosis warrior shares 5-year journey to diagnosis
‘My daughter was struggling with surgery when a young Marine reached out. ‘Pip has touched my life.’ He sent a package in the mail.’: Special needs mom thanks stranger for act of kindness
“A young Marine, from way across the seas, stumbled upon us. And he has no idea the magic he’s brought my kids ever since.”
‘We were told, ‘She may not be born breathing.’ Scared was an understatement.’: Mom gives birth to baby with DiGeorge syndrome, ‘She’s our miracle’
“There were so many unknowns. We were asked multiple times if we wanted to terminate. Everything about having our first baby felt not fair. We just wanted normalcy.”
‘I got a BODY PART amputated, and didn’t get a night stay at the hospital.’: Woman diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer living life ‘more intentionally’
“I was 36 years old. My focus became doing things that make me happy. There’s so much beauty around us if we open our eyes to see it.”
‘Seemingly irritated, they claimed my autistic son had ‘the highest needs of anyone in the school.’ The statement rocked me.’: Special needs mom urges ‘your system, not my boy, is failing’
“My beautiful boy is not failing your system by fitting into his own mold. Your system is failing him, and others like him, by drawing a line.”
‘I looked at myself and saw an old, washed-up woman with nothing to offer. I wanted to go to bed and not wake up.’: Woman shares self-discovery journey, ‘Life is a story we get to write’
“I had a divorce battle on my hands and two children to raise. It turned out no one was going to get me out of this mess. It was down to me to sort it out.”
‘My high was our son’s milestones, your high has was a piercing hot needle into a vein. I couldn’t save you.’: Special needs mom pens letter to ex-husband battling addiction
“I only had enough room on my life raft for our son. Caring for an addict and a child with severe special needs was not something I could do. You needed to help yourself first, before I could help you.”
‘You’re HUGE!’ I looked pregnant for MONTHS.’: Mom details postpartum life, ‘We hold ourselves to RIDICULOUS standards’
“I was induced and my baby was assisted out with episiotomy and forceps. I exclusively bottle fed from 8 weeks and felt like a failure for MONTHS.”
‘Me and my buddies lost our wives. This trip is our last hurrah.’ I couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness. I had to do something.’: Travel agents surprise veteran, friends with touching act of kindness
“Before I could even respond, I was met with a wave of other travel agents, one after another saying, ‘Put me down for $25.’ Within a few hours so many people, who have all had a terrible and fruitless year, had dug deep and offered to help.”
‘Why does he act like that?’ My home was a war zone. But I wouldn’t take back that time even if I could.’: Woman shares advice to new foster parents, ‘Find your people’
“That birth mother I met at the DHHS office? She and I could have easily traded places. I’d be a fool to believe I was called to love my children, and not their parents.”