On a Thursday during the pandemic in April 2020, I was working from home and doing what I like to call “academic management” with my two sons – one in 4th grade and the other in 5th. It had only been a few weeks since the world had shut down and everyone was trying to… Continue reading Divorce Was Not the End of My World – by Latoya Hammond
As we stood there looking at the x-ray of my spine, I saw what looked like “Jenga” in the shape of the letter S. My orthopedist sat back in silence, looking at the screen while my husband Darian and I fearfully waited for him to say something. While my husband may have been confused, I… Continue reading Chronic Pain is Not My Life Sentence – by Tamika Collick
It all began with an accident - tripping over my husband’s crutches. An avid basketball player, my husband was healing from ACL surgery after someone fell on his knee in a game. In a month, the pain in my knee grew from aching to shooting pain. Fiercely independent, it took me a long time to… Continue reading How God Transformed My Pain Into Purpose – by Christina Clardy
I knew Vernon was different the night I met him. I was in my late twenties and had moved from Atlanta to Jacksonville, Florida to work for a dot com company at the height of the internet boom. I traveled back and forth frequently to visit family and friends. I met Vernon in Atlanta on… Continue reading Healing for a Broken Heart – by Andrea Plowden
From my teenage years, I had clear plans for my future. Following college, I would head to a big inner-city, probably New York City, to work for the Salvation Army. Children weren’t in my plans as a previous surgery led me to believe I wouldn’t be able to become pregnant. However, after meeting Mark at… Continue reading Always With Me: Through Sickness and Death – by Tina Akridge
I met Sean in the early 80s when we were both sophomores at MLK High School in NYC. Like most high schools, the lunchroom was the social hub. Sean and his friends sat at the lunch table next to ours. They were funny but not obnoxious, well dressed, but not too popular. Sean stood out… Continue reading From Harlem to Heaven: A Love Story – by Elise Minor
I met Hillmon when I was nineteen, in a youth social club in Williamstown, NJ. This was in the mid-1950s; he and his siblings would drive over from Camden to the youth clubs in that area. At first glance, I had no idea of the love, friendship, and companionship I would experience after 61 years… Continue reading Rediscovering Myself After A Great Loss – By Margaret Moses
I married my husband Rafael on February 14, 1987, which I lovingly call Love Day in honor of Valentine’s Day. It was very cold with snow on the ground, yet it was a beautiful day - the beginning of the rest of our lives. We were very young by today's world standards. I was twenty-three… Continue reading Navigating Life After Losing Your Only Child – by Zayda Santiago
On June 11, 1996, my beautiful baby boy, Cameron, was born. When he was 4 years old, he was diagnosed with autism. In those early years, my husband Russ and I worked hard to take care of him, support him, and accommodate his special needs to ensure he had the best life possible. This didn’t… Continue reading A Mother’s Journey Towards Healing and Peace (Loss of Child) – by Yolanda McKinney
February 2, 1995, was both a blessed but confusing day. I gave birth to my first beautiful baby, however, I also received the worst news of my life. My son Alfred William Lee, III was born happy and healthy. I was surrounded by family and had all the medical staff I needed to feel comfortable… Continue reading Accepting the Inevitable, Understanding the Purpose (Loss of a Child) – by April Lee
Faith-Filled Moms 