“‘There are only 400-500 cases in the United States.’ I was a 30-year-old healthy, young woman ready to embrace a new decade and start her family. But being 30, as I was going to quickly find out, would have a whole other meaning.”
‘At 9:00 a.m. Thanksgiving Eve, my phone rang. ‘It’s time.’ Nothing could have prepared me.’: Chronic illness warrior receives life-saving liver transplant after triple diagnosis
‘I lost control of my legs. ‘Call an ambulance!’ My tongue started to go down my throat. The pain was excruciating.’: Chronic illness warrior shares journey with fibromyalgia, POTS
“’Will you be able to drive? Work full time? Have children?’ I struggled to accept my fate. Secretly, I hoped I’d recover.”
‘I grabbed her hand and yelled, ‘RUN!’ The rush of people overtook me. I fell underneath thousands running for their lives.’: Woman survives Las Vegas mass shooting, ‘I live a life that matters now’
“The ‘a-ha’ lightbulb went off and fight-or-flight kicked in. That moment when you think of your kids, your husband, your family, who you may never see again.”
‘I gave my new daughter her first little pink toothbrush. ‘It’s time to brush, sweetie!’ She asked, ‘What’s that?’ Surely she was joking.’: Mom says ‘adoption isn’t for the faint of heart’
“She studied the contents of her plate. ‘Why are you feeding me GRASS?’ I screamed in my mind. How could she not know what salad looks like?”
‘Mary Kate’s eye is drooping a little. Do you see that?’ I felt the air leaving my body.’: Brain cancer warrior passes away days before second birthday, ‘She’s guiding us every step of the way’
“One day, she could barely open her left eye. You know those situations in your life when everything changes and you didn’t even see it coming? This was one of those.”
‘We met him in the parking lot. Our kid was leaving for 8 hours, going who knows where with God knows who.’: Foster parents celebrate reunification, ‘Every awkward moment was worth it’
“We were DEVASTATED. The whiplash of emotions was too much. ‘I have every intention of keeping you in her life.’ It wasn’t typical in foster care.”
‘I found the strength to tell our 5-year-old, ‘Daddy’s never coming home.’: Widow finds love with late husband’s namesake, ‘It was meant to be this way’
“’Is it weird I share the same name as your late husband?’ I told him, ‘Yes, it is.’ He said, ‘You can call me by my middle name, Andrew.’ I turned white as a ghost.”
‘I sat in a hospital room as we mourned her mother’s last breaths. I held her trembling siblings.’: Couple fosters 9 kids, adopts 1, ‘Their arms around your neck are worth it’
“I rocked this child to sleep for 13 months. She knew me as her mom. We had NO idea what to expect for the future.”
‘Let me tell it STRAIGHT, there’s days I feel like I’m babysitting someone else’s kids.’: Foster mom details journey, ‘We’ve learned to love them as our own’
“They’d been with 4 different families in the last 6 months. The kids needed someone who could teach them to be a friend, to love others, to be kind, and to just be good human beings.”
‘Crumbs in the sheets. Worrying about the next career move. Life is messy. Don’t just clean up, laugh in the mess.’: Woman shares powerful reminder ‘only you know what your heart needs’
“You only have this life and the clock started ticking the day you were born. Let go of their approval. You’ll never be remembered for the house, anyway.”