“Can you imagine being 15 with a cane in high school? I was called ‘the blue cripple’ because my cane was aqua blue. My Spanish teacher saw my cane for the first time and yelled, ‘YOU HAVE A WALKING STICK? OH MY GOD!’”
‘You are a 13-year-old girl with a sick dad, you must just want attention.’ I was heartbroken, betrayed by my best friends. There were YEARS of doctors saying, ‘We don’t have an answer why she’s in pain.’
‘On my birthday, my husband drank too much. He started calling me his ‘future ex-wife’ in front of all my friends. Something felt off, but I ignored my gut. It was the worst mistake of my life.’
“He’d been acting strangely and kept telling me, ‘You deserve better.’ That was the first clue. I had no idea what sparked this until the next morning when I jumped out of bed with my heart in my throat. Before I knew it, a ‘Take my Ex’s Stuff Yard Sale’ was in full effect.”
‘What mother does that? Have some decency!’ He was screaming for milk and I hurried to lift my top. Another said, ‘Do you think she knows who the father is?’ I was mortified.’
“I remember thinking, ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Neither of them directly spoke to me. They made no point in hiding their conversation. ‘I hate when women seek attention. It’s like, that’s how she got into this mess to begin with.'”
‘If you’re not busy on Monday, you can come see me in the hospital?’ We left our info with this stranger. He showed up for 6 hours, talking and calming us down.’: Mom touched by waiter’s outstanding act of kindness
“He stood in that ICU waiting for Tommy to open his eyes so he could fulfill his promise to an 8-year-old boy he did not know. THANK YOU IS NOT ENOUGH.”
‘I still remember the text I sent my husband. ‘Do you want TWO babies?’ Boy, girl, black, biracial, a year apart, biologically shared one parent. My voice trailed off.’
“When I saw my son-to-be’s date of birth, I choked back tears. To understand why, I need to rewind. My husband was feeling run down. It was sudden and pronounced fatigue, odd for an avid cyclist. At 32 years old, he was fit. We both shrugged it off. I promised our kids we wouldn’t be gone long.”
‘It’s going to be okay. I’m here,’ she said into my hair, holding me tight. A perfect stranger was rocking me like a child in the airport.’: Woman recalls stranger’s act of kindness after brother dies in tragic accident
“‘Your brother was kite-surfing. They don’t know what happened.’ I fell utterly to pieces. I found a quiet gate down the concourse and slumped down with my suitcase and a massive jumble of airport toilet paper. Opening my eyes, I saw a beautiful woman. She simply opened her arms.”
‘Your dad is going to die. This is a gut-wrencher. You will adopt a child. He will be your brother – the 4th child your dad has with his new wife.’
“Your dad’s wife will die unexpectedly of a drug overdose, followed by your dad to cancer just days later. Before your dad dies, he will sign over custody to you. You will fight tooth and nail through the courts for this child. This is your rock bottom.”
‘We swiped right. She was heading on a huge trip. My first thought was: SHE’S ADVENTUROUS. Then she asked me if I’d join. My second thought was: SHE’S CRAZY.’
“Nevertheless, I booked all my flights. We had a match. We spent every single day together. It could have gone awry, but it didn’t. It became clearer that, ‘If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it.’ So I did.”
‘Whatever. Clearly it’s the police officer’s fault.’ I crawled out the sunroof knowing my parents would murder me.’: Woman finds sobriety after 11 years of alcoholism, now ‘the person drunk me desperately wanted to be’
“Stressful day? Wine, please! Getting married? Drinks on me! Someone died? Dang, let me buy you a beer. Relationship problems? Shots! Sunday Funday. Manic Monday. Tipsy Tuesday. Whiskey Wednesday. Thirsty Thursday. 16 years old was the first of my many nights sleeping in a bathroom, remembering nothing. It didn’t stop for 11 years.”
‘The guy who brought me to the party passed out. I should have left him, but I’m a loyal person. I fell asleep and was awoken by a man’s body on top of mine. I couldn’t move and yelled for help.’
“I remember telling my mom, ‘I would die if something happened to you.’ She always reassured me, ‘I’m not going anywhere Erica.’ I whole-heartedly believed she would live forever. Then she started complaining of severe headaches. Selfishly, I thought, ‘Well if God took my Grannie, he can’t take my mom too.'”