“‘Dad, Sean isn’t answering. I’m scared.’ I see breaking news. There was a shooting at an apartment complex. I hear the reporter, ‘People are saying an officer was involved in the shooting.’ My heart sank. I knew right then, it was Sean. Then the black SUVs stopped in front of our house.”
‘He got shot, didn’t he?’ I looked out the blinds, waiting for the police to pull up. Finally, 2 men got out.’: Wife loses police officer husband in line of fire on his day off
‘I don’t want you with those black kids,’ a mom whispered. Being white, she didn’t know they’re MINE.’: Mom ‘livid’ after woman interrupts ‘innocent play time’ with hate, encourages us to ‘intervene, love one another’
“Every time her child went back to playing with my kids, like clockwork the mom came back and told her to stop. This poor child was waiting for her mother to not be paying attention so she could go back to laughing and playing. Enough was enough. ‘Hi, how are you? I just want you to know those little black girls you’re so afraid of, those are MY children.’ She turned beet red.”
‘What drugs did you take while pregnant?’ I locked us indoors and REFUSED to bring her out.’: Mom describes daughter with limb difference as ‘devastating’ at first, then ‘her biggest joy’
“’What a freak. Stay away from that little weird girl.’ People can be cruel. But my husband said, ‘Look at her. You have a beautiful daughter.’ She gives her siblings a run for her money. She is different, not less.”
‘I should’ve aborted you when I had the chance.’ Her last words to me. Just like that, a weight had been lifted.’: Woman thanks narcissistic mother, ‘I wouldn’t be this strong without the pain she made me feel’
“I entered a self-portrait competition at school at age 8. I was so excited, I dug out my best coloring pens. ‘I don’t know why you’re bothering, it looks nothing like you. You’re never going to win,’ my mother said. These words hit hard, but I entered it anyway. Deep down, I wanted to prove her wrong. When I won, she shrugged her shoulders. ‘They probably just felt sorry for you.’”
‘For the longest time, I didn’t know what anxiety was. I thought everyone felt this way.’: Woman says ‘anxiety, busyness’ is not ‘a badge of honor,’ claims ‘you’re not weak for needing help’
“I assumed everyone overthought every detail, rehearsed conversations in their head, and had moments of panic so intense they had to sit down. But one day, I talked to my doctor. ‘Adrenaline is great when you’re outrunning a bear,’ she said. ‘But when your brain sends that same amount of adrenaline when you’re sitting at your desk, that’s anxiety.’ So now, I take this pill every night.”
‘You’re getting snipped, right?!’ I told my husband, no more babies. He obliged! The doctor had an emergency.’: After harrowing NICU journey, preterm birth, mom excited for ‘freedom’ husband’s vasectomy would bring to their ‘intimacy’
“My husband told me without hesitation, he’d get a vasectomy. I thought, ‘Yeah sounds good, but we’ll see if he’s really down for the cause when that time comes.’ We prepared for snip snip day by getting him a bag of frozen peas and tight underwear. He was nervous, but ready. My OB knew of our plan, but kept asking, ‘Are you SURE?’”
‘YES! Could this actually be true? One sister the surrogate, the other sister an egg donor!’: Gay dads reveal ‘blessed’ surrogacy journey with sisters, the ‘most fabulous aunties imaginable’ to their son
“‘We aren’t going to be daddies.’ I couldn’t see any hope on the horizon. Then, in the most amazing twist of events, she asked if we’d consider her sister as our surrogate. ‘YES!’ We were blown away. I was jumping. We all sat around the table, and voila! TWO LINES. I shouted, ‘You’re pregnant!’ We did a huge group hug.”
‘Standing at my mom’s casket, I was approached by an old friend I hadn’t seen in decades. ‘I heard, and I came.’: Woman loses mother, ‘humbled’ by old friend’s act of compassion she’ll ‘never forget’
“She provided the most breathtaking comfort I’ve ever received. She showed up and simply said, ‘I know what it’s like to be the first one at the casket.’ I was speechless. Numb. Humbled and heartbroken. The first one at the casket. It was true. I hadn’t thought of it. It was a humble reminder of the honored spot I was standing in.”
‘Are you guys OK?,’ my daughter inquired. ‘Yeth.’ I tried to balance. ‘Are you lost? I’ll be right there.’: Teenage daughter shocks mom by being ‘the responsible one’ after too many birthday drinks
“I had a few drinks. Judge me if you want, but I’m allowed. I’ve been 21 for 26 years now, so I’m legal. Wasn’t driving. Not bothering anybody. But, we got lost on the way back. It may have had something to do with my favorite two-word phrase: Mer-lot. Then my daughter called. ‘Hello?’ I over enunciated my words, trying to stand in place, giggling.”
‘Do you want to resuscitate?’ We needed to let him go. Sobbing, I told them, ‘No.’ It was time to stop fighting.’: Mom admits rainbow baby’s birth was ‘bittersweet’ after losing brother to ‘ultra-rare recessive disease’
“Furniture blocked off the hallway to give us privacy as we said goodbye. I watched my husband hold his son for the first and last time; I’d never seen him so broken. We held his hands and kissed his head, telling him we loved him, he didn’t need to fight any longer. When the doctor pronounced him, I asked her to carry him to the hospital morgue. I couldn’t do it myself. She swaddled him in a blanket, and left.”