“I suddenly felt nauseous. I was standing at the kitchen counter – and my next memory is opening my eyes, and I’m lying on something red. I felt shattered glass falling from my face. I ran my hand down my chin, where I felt something snag my finger.”
‘It stopped my heart. I landed on a glass I was carrying, and a chunk of it punctured my jugular. A voice came to me and told me I was dying. Oh God, no! I didn’t want to die.’: Woman collapses after too much caffeine
‘I’ve been hiding our family’s ‘secret’ for years. I have been silent. Masking our smiles. Faking OK. A complete nightmare. I am so sick of living in fear.’: Wife urges people to take mental health seriously
“The officer had actually committed suicide and faked his own murder. This brought out things in Ty I had never seen before. Our family has been in nonstop crisis.”
‘Marry that boy. Make him happy.’ I would wear makeup to cover the bruises on my cheek.’: Woman’s husband suffers from PTSD, traumatic brain injury post-military, ‘Never give up on their love’
“I thought he was just angry and stressed out. When he slowed down, his brain would wander. He blacked out while driving us down the highway and started to scream. ‘If you don’t get help, I’m taking the baby and leaving.’ It’s like losing the person you fell in love with and not being able to mourn.”
‘During my Daddy’s funeral procession, led by the United States Marine Corps, my family noticed the man in this photo pulled over on the side of the road.’
“We passed many other cars that simply went about their day. My daughter did some digging and we found him.”
‘Oh God. I am about to puke.’ All of a sudden, I see a white van and someone whispers, ‘There he is.’
“I couldn’t wait any longer so I drove myself to the hospital. They told me there was nothing they could do to stop this baby from coming today. Alex was set to leave for deployment in 17 days.”
‘We ran away and married in secret. I fell in love before I knew her name. Right then, I confessed, ‘I’d marry you in a heartbeat.’: Veteran recounts whirlwind romance, ‘We were meant to be’
“It was love at first sight. Every time she entered the room, it felt like the world stopped turning. Life had different plans for us, and it wasn’t quite our time. I was deployed and we lost touch. After returning from Iraq alive, I had a fresh perspective on life. There was an instant bond between us.”
‘Up until this moment I refused to call them ‘mine.’ I referred to them as ‘ours.’ The social workers’, the state of California, the taxpayers. That day, they became MINE.’
“There was no logical reason, in our minds, to start a family. But, as soon as those girls locked eyes on mine I knew… I would kill or die for them.”
‘As the contractions grew closer together, with each ring I was nervous his Wi-Fi had gone out.’
“My first pregnancy ended in an induction that lasted 3 days. I was terrified that was going to happen again. I knew John would not be able to sit at his computer for 3 days, and the longer labor was, the less likely he would be able to stay by the computer.”
‘Are you sure you can handle being a military wife?’
“How the heck would I have known what kind of wife I was ready to be? Seriously. Did other brides-to-be get asked similar questions?”
‘I did not have my biological parents growing up and if there is one thing I can give her, it will be to be present’: Why this Marine mom decided to ‘fold up my uniform’
“I’m trying to give our little girl the best life and gift I can give her — a Momma and Daddy she can be proud of.”
