“I remember trying to fill the time until my husband got home from work in 10 minute increments. ‘Okay, we can look in the mirror until 4:17, then we’ll walk down to get the mail. That’ll get us to about 4:30. When we get back, we can read books until 4:45. Then preheat the oven and get all the ingredients out for supper. At 5, I can put him in his swing and start cooking dinner.’ I cannot perfect my children. And that sucks.”
‘If I feel like this with 1, how am I ever going to survive more?’ How would I perfect another kid?’: Mom of 3 realizes in hindsight first child is ‘the hardest job’
To My Second Family Who Takes Me In During The Holidays: Thank You For Choosing Me Over My Abuser
“No one should have to exist in the same room with the one who makes them want to vanish within it. I will not be part of a family who chooses my abuser over me.”
‘Geoff… GEOFF?!’ His eyes were wide open, staring at the sky struggling to breathe. He went limp.’: Pregnant woman loses husband from freak seizure on vacation, ‘they wouldn’t let me see him’
“We went on an organized boat trip. My husband decided to go in for a swim. 5 minutes in, he started to have some sort of seizure in the water. They took him to shore, leaving us on the main boat. I shouted at the captain, ‘Bring us back!’ The answer I got was chilling: ‘You need to think of the other people who paid for this trip, I cannot just turn the boat around.’ It took us another 2 days to find out where they had taken him.”
‘It’ll go away in its own, don’t worry.’ She had abnormal, starry blue eyes. I knew they had failed us.’: Woman gives birth to baby with Williams Syndrome
“We weren’t leaving this place without a diagnosis. ‘Don’t jump to any conclusions.’ She had a heart murmur and a low birth weight, but they still gave her the okay to go home. Little did we know our lives would soon change forever.”
‘You’re only 19 weeks, it’s too early.’ I was scared to hold him. But THAT was love at first sight.’: Woman’s baby born still after years of infertility, ‘he has changed my life, even when he is not here’
“’How far along are you? You aren’t due til November!’ My mom thought I was playing a trick on her, but she could see I’d been crying. My worst fear had come true. I knew I’d hate myself if I never took any photos, so I took an abundance. I needed to have that for my son. The worst part? Knowing it was the first and last time I’d ever hold him again.”
‘I’d like to give you a twenty. Is that ok?’ I passed it over. ‘Yes, yes. Thank you. I’m sorry. I just am having a real bad day.’: Woman is ‘changed’ after trying to help homeless man with simple act of kindness
“He turned toward me. Huffily, he said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m just really tired, and I have a terrible headache.’ This man was still ill-mannered and grumpy as hell, mind you, but at least he let me know why. He became human. He folded his sign and took the several steps to my window. The light was about to turn green.”
‘I couldn’t see him that way. ‘This is not real, this cannot be real.’ I didn’t go in, my beautiful boy was gone.’: Mom makes ‘brave’ decisions in her grief after losing son to suicide, ‘I choose not to torture myself’
“I chose not to wear black. It was the last occasion I would get to dress up for him. I wouldn’t attend his wedding, so I chose an outfit that would honor him and be celebratory. He was gone. All that was left of him was the shattered remains of a beautiful, perfect body he no longer wanted to be in. He chose his angelversary. He chose to leave us all behind and graduate to Heaven.”
‘Why weren’t we told this sooner? Obviously they suspected brain bleeds. Why didn’t we know?’: Newborn suffers brain bleeds in-utero, defies all odds to survive, ‘he’s leaving a trail of middle fingers behind him for the naysayers’
“My husband arrived just seconds before the doctor said, ‘He is out!’ I was certain he had died. I couldn’t stop shaking while they stitched me up. But he was perfect, with a surprising amount of thick, dark hair. ‘There’s a high likelihood he’ll never walk or talk.’ They asked if we wanted to stop life-saving measures. We stood our ground. He’d be our ‘wayfinder.’ We trusted he’d tell us in his own way if things became too much, and it was time to stop fighting.”
‘Mom! We’ve been in an accident! They can’t get Daddy to wake up.’ I asked if the airbags deployed.’: Woman loses husband in tragic accident, marries fellow widow, ‘My heart began to beat again’
“Eleven days later, I got a message from Todd. I had never met him in person. We began very innocent conversation about being ‘only parents’ to our children. We sat in that booth for 3 hours…. talking, laughing, crying. After we finally left, I sent a text. ‘I know I should be playing it cool, but I had a really great time. I’d like to do it again soon.’”
‘He’ll never be a dead-beat dad who got remarried and started a new life. And I refuse to be the evil stepmom.’: Bonus mom successfully co-parents with husband’s ex, ‘We all make the effort’
“When I first met my husband, he told me he was a single father to 2 handsome boys. Their mother got remarried and moved with them 4 hours away to another state. But, they made coparenting work. And together, us 4 parents became friends. We adopted two babies only 4 months apart last year. But every other Friday I leave from work to meet their mom 100 miles away. ‘Do you want to come stay with the boys while we go out of town, so they don’t miss school?’ Of course we said yes.”