“I opened an unknown can of worms. Things started swirling in my head. ‘Was I not loved? Am I not worthy? Do I have siblings?’ I started at my computer screen. Same eye shape, same smile. I finally clicked send. Within a half hour, she responded. The pit of my stomach felt so sick.”
‘I looked at my mom, tears welling up. ‘Was I adopted?’ She knew this day would happen. She knew I’d want to know. My answer was a few clicks away.’
‘The phone rang. I thought to myself, ‘That’s her! It has to be her.’ Tears flooded my eyes. Her next words lit up my entire life. ‘I’m so glad you found me,’ she said.’
“I was told, ‘Your parents gave you away because they didn’t want you.’ I was devastated and began a mental game of ‘Who Could Be My Birth Mother?’ Everywhere I went, I looked to see who I might resemble. I analyzed the features of celebrities and passing strangers. Every birthday, I wondered if she was thinking about me, too.”
‘HI MOMMY, I’M BABY A.’ My eyes landed on, ‘HI MOMMY, I’M BABY C.’ Triplets, they deserved more.’: Mom credits unexpected triplets and husband with her helping to find sobriety
“I was working at a strip club in Detroit, trading my body for drugs, deteriorating into nothingness. I sought refuge in another rehab and shortly after leaving, I found out again I was pregnant. I went in to see my OBGYN, and cried over the possibility of an evil man being the baby’s father. I called my husband who knew the circumstances of my life and our relationship. He was willing to be there for me in whatever way he could.”
‘Let’s go get our kids!’ We didn’t have a plan. One by one, they entered the room.’: Woman survives Route 91, Las Vegas Mass Shooting, adopts nieces, nephews in wake of siblings’ deaths
“‘It’s just fireworks.’ Reloading, shooting, reloading, shooting. I kept saying, ‘I shouldn’t be here, I have kids.’ A week later, the survivors planned a moment of silence at 10:04 p.m. I went outside, looked up at the stars. Suddenly, ash the took the sky. Our town was on fire. I’d just survived the worst mass shooting in American history, and we were now stuck in California’s deadliest wildfire.”
‘Erin, I love you.’ After 18 years of occassional likes, random comments, I awoke to a note on my table.’: Woman marries ‘stranger’ she met on the internet, ‘I can live the rest of my life with him’
“For years, I watched his life move forward on my computer screen. He didn’t know it, but the moments he took to talk to me were pulling me through some of my darkest days. Did this stranger know how much I adored him? That tiny note was the very first time I saw his handwriting, and realized I loved him.”
‘Every couple has fought on the way to a party, only to step out of the car smiling. We post pictures of our kids melting down, but never share photos crying after an ugly argument.’
“We have a wonderful marriage. But we also have bad days where I dread the sound of his car pulling into the garage. When I’m really mad, I imagine what my life would look like as a single mom. This is normal. It’s OK.”
‘I’ll get better, mom.’ That was 2 days ago. Today, he’s high again. I’ll never give up on my baby.’: Mom says she’ll ‘always have hope’ for son addicted to heroin
“My son has served 10 months in prison, several months in jail, has been in 5 different rehabs. Each time I think, ‘This will be it. He’ll stay sober and start to live life,’ and each time he relapses. I worry every day I’ll get that call telling me he’s dead. At least when he’s in prison, I know he’s alive. My son is not an addict, or a problem. He is just suffering, and I will always love him no matter what.”
‘Every day she tags me in stuff on Facebook. Every day. Like several times a day.’
“I try to make a point of acknowledging it. So often I come home to a ‘Did you see that thing I tagged you in?'”
’25 days before the one-year anniversary of my husband’s death, a Facebook memory popped up’
“It slams you back to a time when you knew what was important, and what wasn’t.”
DISTURBING: ‘Want to freak yourself out? I’m gonna show how much of your information is stored without you even realizing it’
This includes tracking where you are, what apps you have installed, access to your webcam and microphone, your contacts, e-mails, calendar, call history, the messages you send and receive…
