“We traded our passion for the typical American dream. The house, the yard, the white picket fence. It seemed we’d spent all of our time waiting for retirement age, for the kids to grow up, for the house to be paid off. Among all the waiting, there was no time to bring our beautiful dreams into reality.”
‘In a blink, we sold absolutely everything, put our house on the market. We were DONE with the American dream. The waiting for our kids to grow up, for our house to be paid off.’: Woman urges ‘live fearlessly and chase your dreams’
‘My head and spine rolled. The playground monitor watched me fall off the monkey bars. Kids called me ‘freak’. I didn’t see my spine tic as a problem, but her concern made realize something was wrong.’
“I could hear unkind comments coming from behind and in front of me. I broke down crying and tried to get away as fast as I could. When I got the news, it was a relief to say, ‘This isn’t me trying to be annoying.’ It was uncontrollable.”
‘The ambulance will be here soon. Want me to go with you?’ He was a stranger, all alone, with a bloody gash above his eyes.’: Woman finds man of her dreams in ‘random chance meeting’
“The EMT arrived. ‘You don’t know him, do you?’ I felt totally called out! ‘Well, he’s cute. Maybe you’ll get his number.’ As we chatted, his deep dimples began to show. Once I knew he’d be okay, I checked him out a little more. ‘Okay, he looks kinda tall lying on that stretcher.’ I thought I was helping a stranger. Turns out I was setting myself up to fall deeply in love with the man of my dreams.”
‘I was gay. I knew what would happen if I came out. Family, friends, church – all gone. So I lived blindly, losing more of who I was by the day. ‘: Gay dad describes fear of coming out to family
“She cried and brought out the Bible. She read passages aloud while sobbing. She truly believed I was going to hell and she fought tooth and nail to make sure her baby wasn’t going there.”
I Kicked My Son Battling Addiction Out, And It’s The Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done
“I live in fear he will become just another statistic.”
‘I was 17, in love with a dad twice my age, and preparing my son’s autopsy.’: Teen mom loses son to SIDS, re-discovers herself after ‘flailing through life in destruction mode’ for decades
“The clock reads 5:36. I hear him yell. Blood is trickling from his mouth. Shock. Fear. Confusion. Put him in the car. Stop. No time. He’s not breathing. Cry. Scream. Beg him to breathe. The police are here to question us. Why aren’t they doing anything? It’s too late. We have to plan a funeral. Shortly after, my relationship ends. The burden of a dead baby is too much. I fall asleep crying on my son’s grave frequently. I cannot breathe. I am a disaster trying to maintain normalcy.”
‘What are they going to say today?’ I missed 2/3 of school, my teachers never batted an eye. By the end of middle school my life felt surreal, I thought ‘this will never change.’
“Just a simple phrase ‘you know if you ever need to talk, I am here’ became the foundation for one of the strongest relationships in my life.”
‘In the shower, he felt a dime-sized lump behind his nipple. Examination signs boldly exclaimed ‘WOMEN ONLY’. The c-word never crossed our minds. We didn’t even know it was a thing.’
“Every appointment was in a pink-laced room. Coming to terms with it was difficult enough, but the ostracizing sea of pink ribbons and pink hospital gowns only added to the emasculating nature of it. I felt such guilt in allowing the delay in getting the lump checked.”
‘I stayed in a destroyed marriage for a year, convinced we could make it through. It didn’t matter he was in love with another woman; I KNEW he would come to his senses.’
“I would hide in vain in my closet. ‘Get up!’ I would tell myself, ‘Get up!’ I wanted to get up; I didn’t want my son to find me like this- to see me like this. But he would and it started to become a regular occurrence.”
‘My son’s teacher recently friended me on social media. I came upon a picture of her holding a chalkboard sign that read, ‘I said YES!’ She’s already married, so it struck me as odd.’: Mom thanks ‘hero’ teachers
“Until I read the caption. I couldn’t stop crying.”