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'New neighbors change the tenor of a street. A quiet neighborhood rallies against a potential threat. I feel even more welcome and accepted.'

'We have new neighbors, right next door. I\'ve lived here 16 years, not the longest by far in this little area, but established. I own my home. I have planted many flowers, repainted it myself and reroofed a formerly run-down rental. The new neighbors put up a religious sign, from the local hate church. You know, the kind of church that goes to gay pride with signs that say, \'god hates fags,\' or picket planned parenthood with fetus photos and angry shouting. The new neighbors\' son also practice with weapons on the lawn with his buddies, some kind of asian battle sticks, numchucks, that kind of thing. It\'s a bunch of white men in their early 20\'s dressed in black almost every evening, using weapons. I am lesbian and not the only gay on the street. I felt more than a little threatened. Some neighbors stopped by to check in with me and let me know I could come by if I felt unsafe. Two houses left phone numbers. After the new folks put up their sign from the hate church, new signs started popping up all over the neighborhood. It is a sign based on a US flag with lines of colored print. One line says, \'all are welcome here.\' Another line says, "diversity makes us strong. \' Another says, \'black lives matter.\' Basically liberal, loving and inclusive statements and rally cries as befits most residents in this liberal university town. I felt very supported, as an individual, as a member of the neighborhood and as a member of a group often targeted for the way we were born. When the church sign went up, I wasn\'t sure my neighbors would know the type of church it is- a divisive church, a judgemental church. But they did know, and responded. Now the new neighbors have taken down their sign. But the diversity signs have remained and multiplied. It reminds me of why I have felt so comfortable and welcome here.'

'I got invited to join the International Honor Society of Nursing. My parents offered to pay the fees for me, and my two friends accompanied me to the initiation ceremony.'

'A memorable event in my life that happened recently is when I was inducted into the International Honor Society of Nursing. This actually just happened 2 days ago. I am a senior in college majoring in nursing, and have worked hard the past 3 years to do well in my classes and get good grades. As a result, I have a high GPA (3.9) and so I was eligible to join the Honor Society. It started with an email sent to me inviting me to join. Once I decided to join, I signed up online and paid the fee. What was extra special was that my parents offered to pay the fee for me because they knew it was important for me to join and they wanted me to be recognized for all my hard work. Then, this past Monday was the induction ceremony. I was a little disappointed because my parents were unable to attend, but two of my friends came instead. I dressed up in a nice dress, picked up my friends, and we went to the ceremony. There was a speaker who presented her research project, and then it was time for the induction. One of my professors read off all of our names (only 7 people in my class were invited to join), and we all went up individually to sign our names in the booklet, receive a certificate, and receive purple cords that we will wear at graduation. Afterwards we took pictures and ate cake. It was a really special night and it was nice to be recognized for my hard work. I appreciated my friends coming to support me. I am proud of myself for this accomplishment and for almost making it through nursing school.'

'I did some walking meditation one evening. During the walking I managed to let my mind settle down, which led to a deep sense of peace.'

"I don't remember the exact date when this happened, but it was within the last couple weeks. For the past year I've been trying out various Buddhist practices - particularly a lot of different meditation techniques. Sitting meditation can cause a lot of pain to arise in the body for me, and instead of working through that like I should, I've started to do a lot of walking meditation instead. This of course leads to its own types of pain, but they're more manageable. Anyway, recently I had been doing my walking meditation as usual. I like to do an hour a day whenever I can since I work from home and can leave my computer for short times here and there. I usually break this down into 10-15 minute sessions just to make it easier to get the practice in without disturbing my work day too much. One late afternoon/early evening I was doing my walking and reached a very peaceful and tranquil state. My mind was significantly more quiet than it usually is, although there were still thoughts bubbling up here and there. I also realized at the time that the movement in my mind was starting to slow down. My mind was no longer jumping from one thought to another endlessly. This mental state continued for a few minutes as I continued to pace back and forth on my walking path and just observed it. After I finished that feeling of peace and tranquility lingered for a while before fading away. I've had some pretty strange and interesting experiences so far while exploring these different techniques. The stillness I felt during this particular session really stood out to me though."

"It was a table tennis tournament. I beat higher rating player and he was a cry baby about it. Couldn't loose like a man with class and character. Felt really good to tease him afterwards."

"Table tennis is so easy. I don't know why he made such a big deal about it. He stunk at table tennis. I don't know why he even challenged me to begin with. Too bad he was such a loser about it. You should have seen how red his face got when I started teasing him about it. I made sure the girl he has a crush on was there too. You ought to have seen how mad he got then! He basically had a temper tantrum that I beat him. He did everything but throw himself on the floor after the game. I guess he thought he was going to win. It was a strange game. I thought maybe he was losing on purpose. You see, he had been bragging around about how good he was. I said I knew how to play. It was like the other day, I tried poker. I know how to play, I just don't."

'My husband and I went on vacation. We were able to rekindle our love after just one day. We had fun shopping and doing VR, and then ended the night with a fantastic dinner.'

'The first day of vacation we left with high hopes of being able to be closer to each other, as it seemed we had been growing apart over the last year. We flew to Florida, and the excitement was palpable. We went straight to our room to change and then headed back out to the shopping district. I had a special surprise for him. I had booked as to do a Star Wars VR experience. It was so much fun and for the first time in a long time I was able to forget about the stressors at home and just relax and have fun as a couple. Then we went to lunch and had a few drinks. It amazing how fast you can reconnect when there are no outside forces to pull you out of the moment. That night we had a romantic dinner atop a restaurant overlooking the fireworks. It was like after one day we had rekindled what we had lost just by being able to shut out the outside world. It was the prefect way to start out vacation. It was like we were finally back to our old selves. We had let little things get in our way, but with those things far away back home, we could just focus on each other. I went to bed on cloud nine. And we went on to have a fabulous vacation.'

'The main thing to take away from this was the fact I was able to be around family members. Me and my uncle had bonded really well and talked about his terminal illness. Everyone around us in the family reunion had one of the most memorable days and moments of our lives.'

"A lot of the things that we talked about had to do with how to cope with his eventual passing. That one was hard for me but it was a reality that I had to remember and not forget, he seemed to cope with well it. He told me that he literally was okay with death. I guess because had dealt with it and made peace with the outcome that was going to happen no matter what. We also talked about what I could do after he passed to become a man. He wanted what was best for me, He wanted to see my grow and do better as a person overall. I appreciated everything he did for me. I also appreciated him trying to make the most out of a bad situation. I feel most people wouldn't be able to do that, but my uncle was a strong minded person. You rarely, if ever would see him feeling down about himself or week about something. He knew that life was never always going to be great and peaches and roses. But he would make the best of each and every scenario possible. That's one thing I will miss about him and forever remember, just how strong of a person he was inside. He was like a second father to me with how he treated me and did stuff for me and with me. I could never forget any of the conversations we had that night. I swear we talked for at least 3 hours just about life, the future, the past. Literally just everything you could think of, we discussed."

'I had to pass a tech program within six months to keep my standing at work. I left it a little late and had to stress out over the whole thing. I had basically one day to pass the thing.'

'I was focusing on trying to pass my technician test at work. I was hired in November and you had six months to complete the course so my deadline was less than a month away. Your boss or someone else is supposed to help you but I was on my own. There was no study book or no specific time set aside for me. Anyways, I had to do this course in work flow and a lot of was very technical. I was getting frustrated. I was one course away from finishing the first section of 2 and i could not pass the quiz for the life of me. You get three attempts before the boss has to ask for the course to be reset. I had to use that twice. With 10 days to go and my boss going on vacation I had to ask to come in on a Saturday to do the course. First thing was that daunting course. I passed it right away with a little bit of my bosses help. It ended up taking me all of that Saturday when i was expecting about an hour or so. It was now off to the final. I passed it first try and got that monkey off my back. I can get nationally certified if Id like but I am firmly established with my new company.'

'There was a young kitten in my neighbors yard that I rescued. My initial plan was to just leave the kitten in my yard but my plans changed from that to taking it to a shelter to keeping it and taking care of it myself.'

"There was this little black cat that was in my neighbors yard meowing at her door. As I was walking up my steps to go into my house my neighbor asked if I could please take the cat in. I didn't really want to but I wanted to help my neighbor. The plan in the beginning was to just put the cat into my backyard. But she was way too cute for me to just leave her. My second plan was to try to find a shelter that would take her. By the next morning I was still sticking to my original plan. By the time I came home that day the cat was just too cute. I couldn't give her to a shelter because I knew they would most likely kill her. So I went out and got all the supplies I needed to begin to take care of this cat. Litter box, food, some toys. I took her to the vet and found out she was only 6 months. She had worms and fleas too. Within a couple of weeks all her ailments were cleared up. 5 months later and here we are, she's still with me."

'I recently graduated college after returning to school as an adult. It took me about two years to finish. When I graduated I received a big financial gift from my mom which helped significantly.'

"I finally graduated college. After trying more than once! You see I dropped out when I was younger, because of certain reasons, and now I went back to try to get my degree when I'm older now. But the good news is that I finally managed to graduate on my second try. Not too bad, I'll say so myself. It actually took me around 2 years to finish it, and let me tell you how hard it was to do so. The courses was hard. The teacher weren't that great. I basically had to do everything myself. But the good news is that I managed to do it and graduate with a smile on my face. I even got a financial gift from my mom when I did! That really did helped me out. I love you mom! Thanks for the help. I don't know what I would've done if I didn't get the help that I got."

'I am a professional photographer. I recently had my first portrait published in a magazine. It was very exciting and a huge milestone for me!'

'In the last 3-6 months I had some of my photography work published in a magazine for the first time. I was very excited. When I first found out that one of my photos was going to be published, I was so excited and overjoyed that I cried happy tears and could not thank God, enough! This was a huge milestone for me as a professional photographer. I called my husband and told him the great news! He was thrilled for me and gave me huge congratulations! I also called or text other family members to tell them the good news as well. They were also very excited! The photo that was published was a portrait of my son. This made the event even more special. When I got the magazine in the mail I was so happy! I showed the magazine to my son and showed him his portrait and he was very excited as well. The magazine was beautifully printed and I could not believe how gorgeous the portrait looked in it. Everyone in the family was ecstatic! This was a very joyous memory for me in my photography career and definitely a great memory.'

'The summary of this story is about finding someone that captures my interest. The person who I got involved me did that for a while then nothing else.'

"A memorable event that happened at least 3-6 months ago was that I had started a new relationship with someone. The relationship at first started off real good. We saw each other every day. We did some things together but not enough to keep me interested. He was a good person and we would watch movies every night. The most memorable thing was he treated me right. He never did me wrong any kind of way. He didn't come at me crazy like some people did. He treated me right respect and we got along very well. When we first met, it took us almost a month to actually see each other in person. Anyone else would want to see me within a few days at that. The memorable event I felt good about it because it made me feel good not to feel that way than anyone else would make me feel. The whole memorable event made me realize to give people a chance that I wouldn't normally would. I look at it like this that I can't help who I like but at the same time I try to give people chances. I want to say this that I don't mind these memorable events because it keeps me happy at times when I'm bored or something."

"My family and I went on our first beach vacation to Destin, Florida with our kids. We also went with friends and family. We spent most of our time hanging out on the white sandy beaches. I also got to meet up with an old Marine Corps friend of mine that I haven't seen in a long time."

"During this family vacation to Destin, Florida, I took my son on an offshore fishing trip. This was a private charter fishing experience so we had a captain and one of crew member on the boat and then it was just my son and I. This was an extremely memorable experience as this was my first time ever going on a fishing charter. My son really wanted to catch sharks so they took us black tip shark fishing. We ended up catching 6 with the biggest being one my son caught. It was such a fun bonding experience with my son and it's something I will never forget. I think about this fishing trip quite often. My son, who is only 5, still talks about this fishing trip. He has even written about it in his school work. He loves telling all of our friends and family about the big four foot black tip shark he had caught. Luckily, we were able to capture this memory by taking lots of pictures. We even had a picture of my son and me holding the shark that we've since gotten framed in his bedroom. I get such joy thinking about this event. One day, I'd hope my son gets to take his children on a fishing trip like this. I am truly blessed to have experienced this."

"It was my son's birthday. We had a great time. He smashed his cake and made a mess. The year has gone by so fast!"

"It was my son's first birthday. I planned his birthday party and invited some relatives over. I made his cake for him to smash. He made such a mess! He was so cute I didn't mind cleaning it up though. Plus the dog came in and cleaned up the spots I missed on the chair. We took a lot of cute photos. I can't wait to have them printed. It was very touching because I can't believe how fast a year went by! It seems like only yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. And now he is walking everywhere! He has said his first word. And has so much personality! He is very obsessed with the dog. It was great to think about all the fun we have had over the past year. I'm sure the next year will be even more fun!"

"The story was about my husband and I's relationship. A memorable part of our relationship was when we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to eat dinner at the resort we got married at. It was very special"

"Within the past six months my husband got into RN Nursing School, and we celebrated our third wedding anniversary. It is emotional for me, because we've been together for eleven years so celebrating an anniversary with someone I love so much makes me happy. A lot of people don't last in relationships, and to have a long lasting relationship and a great one makes me very happy. My husband surprised me on our anniversary by taking me to the resort that we got married at. It was a very special seafood dinner buffet. it was fancy, and when we go out to eat we usually don't eat out at places so fancy, so it was very special. I have cherished the time i spent with my husband. We have gone on lots of fun trips together. We have moved cross country twice. My relationship is a very memorable part of my life. it feels very special to get to spend my life with someone. The most memorable part of this year as well is that my English Bulldog celebrated one year of not having aspiration pneumonia. She was very sick a year ago and almost died. She is very important to me and my husband. She makes us both very happy, and adds to the joy of our relationship."

"This was my friend's bachelorette party where we rode a huge buggy/bike through the town, while drinking and having a good time. We ended up with two of our party drugged by another party and going home. We filed a police report but we never heard anything."

"Two months ago, my best friend was getting married, so me and several of our mutual friends decided we will throw a bachelorette party for her. She was the kind of person that was a bit reserved, but we convinced her to have the party after a bit of prodding and promising not the go too far (*fingers crossed*). The setting for the party was a hotel in a nearby town, and about 20 people were there to celebrate. As soon as the person of the night came, the drink were being slung, and the party was jamming. It was about 70 minutes into the party that things started to get a bit crazy. One of our friends saw when she came into the hotel that a buggy was parked in the parking lot of the hotel. We all thought it would be fun to leave the hotel room and to drive around town enjoying the starry night sky. We didn't have a care in the world at that point, and the bride-to-be was completely into the whole thing. I'd never seen her as into something as she was at that moment sitting next to me in that buggy driving through town in the dead of night. But things soon turned a bit serious when we ran into a group of guys returning from a hike. These were college aged guys, so they were young and, admittedly, a bit handsome. They saw how tipsy we were and probably thought we were an easy lay. Alcohol and cautious thinking don't mix, so a few of our friends who were very drunk decided to go with the guys to party before heading home. It wasn't until the next morning that we heard what happened. Apparently, they woke up feeling like they were given something other than alcohol. They fear that they may have been assaulted, so they went to the police to file a report. Hopefully nothing happened, but they haven't gave me or anyone else in our group an update since they filed that police report."

'My favorite aunt passed away very suddenly. We all felt blindsided when it happened, and we still cannot believe that she is gone. My family is still trying to come to terms with the loss.'

'Two months ago, I lost my favorite aunt. It happened all of a sudden and the family is still in shock. What happened was, she had been complaining of back and hip pain. The doctors were not able to help or correctly diagnose her. A day before she passed away, she had fallen in her home. We had been trying to call her with no luck. My cousin (her son) went to find out what was wrong and found her on the floor. She had fallen and was unable to get up. He rushed her to the hospital. Once there, the emergency staff did several tests on her. She was severely dehydrated and they found that her kidneys were not working properly. The hospital decided that she would have to go on dialysis temporarily. They also found that she had a urinary tract infection and they began giving her antibiotics. However, the infection had spread and she went into cardiac arrest. Later, we were told that she passed away from a staph infection. It all happened so quickly and we are still dealing with the pain.'

'I was recently put in charge of a team responsible for trying to land a big client for the firm.I decided the team formation for the task. I also decided to be on top of every decision made in this project.'

"I received a phone call three weeks ago. It was the firm. They told me that I was being put in charge of the Goodman Pants account. A relatively new upstart company, Goodman Pants is well known both for the quality of their product as well as their generous charitable contributions. I was to lead a team responsible for landing Goodman as a client. They have been very successful thus far but they are looking to expand their reach to the UK. If our advertising firm could land this account, it would be huge for us. I called Bob. Of all the members of the team, Bob is the one I trust the most. I discussed the situation with him. I wanted his input but I also made sure that I had the final say on any and all decisions regarding the Goodman account. Bob gave me some valuable advice on some of the other team members who he knew better than me. I used his advice to guide my decisions regarding who to put in charge of what. I put Susan in charge of coming up with slogans for the UK demographic. James and I would collaborate on our presentation for the Goodman people. Charles would be responsible for graphic design. We are nearly finished now and the big day is this Saturday. I think it's going well, but I'm feeling a lot of pressure. May luck be in my favor."

"The other week my best friend and my boyfriend finally met for the first time. We went to dinner, and afterwards met up at my friend's house and played with her dog. It went really well, and I'm glad they got to meet after all this time."

"Two months ago my boyfriend and my best friend met for the first time. We had been dating for 7 months at the time, but had known each other for nearly a year. This particular friend is probably my closest female friend. We share a lot about our love lives, even though we don't see each other super often. She knows that I'd been really happy in my relationship and was eager to meet him. It finally so happened that schedules aligned and we were able to meet up. I was a little nervous at first. I wasn't worried that she wouldn't approve or anything, but it's always a little bit of an unsure situation introducing people you're dating to old friends. We met at the restaurant, a local burger joint/bar. The three of us had a great time! Conversation was easy, and as expected, they got along wonderfully. Some mutual friends showed up at the restaurant, and we had a brief conversation with them before heading to her house. Once there, we spent a while playing with my friend's dog. My boyfriend made fast friends, and it was really sweet seeing him interact with her dog. Overall, we had a wonderful time, and I'm sure that my significant other made a good lasting impression on a very important friend of mine."

'There was an almost accident among four cars in a T-junctionwhere it resulted in a serious challenge among all the drivers.This was all because one driver wanted to overtake another.'

"there has been a serious accident at a T-junction. the accident occurred among 4 cars there's no specifics of the cars in question. why did this accident happened in the first place? base on the information gathered, one car caused it. the car which caused this accident wanted to overtake another car. there's no much details about the car which cause the accident. the challenge that occurred between all the drivers doesn't make sense at all. why will a driver even think of overtaking another driver at a T-junction. it doesn't make sense for a trained driver to do that. I personally think there should be a traffic light at the T-junction so to prevent anything problem in the future. By the way was there a traffic light at the T-junction? if there was a traffic light at the T-junction then why did the driver try to overtake another driver. My main point in this whole story stated above is the fact that, did they involve the police? did the police arrest the driver who tried to overtake another at the T-junction. It's a tragic seen and mentally passengers will need to visit the hospital."

'I meet a beautiful person. This person shinning personality has changed the way I looked at friends forever.'

'About two weeks ago I met this beautiful person. This person also has the most amazing personality. They are smart. They are funny and witty. This person is just so amazing. We spent the whole day together. We went to some famous landmarks. We ate some good food. We talked a lot, and got to know eachother pretty well. Turns out this person likes and cares about all of the stuff I do. They care about animals and the planet just like me. They also love cars and music just like I do. We also share the same great taste in music. This person is great. I actually feel like they care about me the same way I care abot them and that is a lot.'

'This event involved going to eye doctors to find out what was wrong with my eyes. The outcome was that I needed eye surgery.'

"I was so surprised that I needed eye surgery so soon. I thought I would have a few more years before it was needed. I scheduled the surgery on one of my eyes first. The other eye would have surgery later after the first one healed. I was so nervous the day of surgery. I was fortunate to have a family member with me because you can't have the surgery without someone being there. Everyone at the surgical center was very nice and tries to put you at ease. I had an eye exam before the surgery to confirm the type of lens to be used. I was prepped for surgery with a mild anesthetic. It's a very strange feeling to be awake for the surgery. I was very much aware of what the surgeon was doing which was a big surprise to me. I could feel everything, but there wasn't pain with the actual surgery. I was surprised that I was able to talk to the surgeon and staff. It was a very strange sensation to know when the lens was being replaced. I was very glad when it was finished even though it didn't take very long."

"It was a table tennis tournament. I beat higher rating player and he was a cry baby about it. Couldn't loose like a man with class and character. Felt really good to tease him afterwards."

'That cry-baby table tennis player was Albert. Since that event, I was telling about him to all the players I had a chance to talk to. All the people I was speaking with said they are not surprised. Albert is acting like that not only to me. Every time he looses, he always has some excuse. Floor is to slippery. Light is terrible in this place. I didn\'t get a chance to warm up ! This ball is not a three star ball ! The opponent\'s serve was not a legal serve ! ...and many many other ridiculous excuses - because there is no other way to call these. I find a behavior like that pathetic... when You loose - You loose. Shake the other player\'s hand, smile and thank him for the game and don\'t be a baby... nobody likes people like that.Anyway - Albert and myself - we\'ve met again. It was not a tournament, just a regular league, but if he would loose, he would still loose rating points. I saw him not coming to the table when it was our turn to play. I went to him and I told him we should play now. He answered - no. Just "no". He gave no explanation, like... I\'ll play You later, or I\'m not playing with You, or ANYTHING. He just said "no" like a retarder baby and not a grown up man that he is. I told him then - I\'ll let You warm up for as long as You want, c\'mon, let\'s play. I just got another "no". I find that really disrespectful and I said to him that he is a coward. Nothing - no reaction, no nothing. I mean, if someone is calling You a coward, You want to explain some things with him right ? Naah, I got nothing from Albert... This tells us what kind of a man he is. This was his chance for a rematch and getting his points back, but he acted like a child again.'

"fall in love with my colleague. it's great to have such a girl friend. we are pursuing great relationship."

"We spend a lot of time with our colleagues. In fact, we probably spend more time with the people we work with than almost anyone else. we tend to have sex more often. we tend to share all things together. we used to hangout at coffee shop. we used to visit lot of tourist place. we would chat at our leisure time. we loved other colleagues too. Since you're likely also surrounded by people you have things in common with, it's not all that surprising that people fall in love at work. A work spouse relationship is born, where you share the trials and tribulations of the workplace with each other, have lunch together, and emotionally depend on one another. In other cases, the people involved may not have put strong boundaries in place, and they can start to behave inappropriately. But it's how you handle this attraction that's important. If you're not careful, the situation can fall into the realm of micro-cheating, which is essentially where you cheat, but only a little bit. we had a wonderful memories over the past week. it was awesome. we took a lot of picture."

'The day of my grandsons birth, and how wonderful my daughter did while she went thought birth with her family there with suport.'

'If someone were to tell me that I would witness an absolute life changing experience 3 months ago, I would not have believed them. 3 months later, here I am a person who feels reborn through the birth of another. The birth of my own children was monumental and shaped my life for the next almost 30 years. As my life went on, so did my comfort with who I was and how things were. After so many years, I knew that there was nothing that was going to change my views on life and me as a person. I was wrong. My daughter, Sarah, recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. This is our first grandchild. Let me tell you, there is nothing in this world that can prepare you for being a grandparent. It is an experience all to itself. The day started like any other, until I got the call. Sarah called to tell me that she was in labor and heading to the local hospital, and she wanted me there. I have never gotten dressed and out the door so fast in all my life. When I arrived at the hospital I found my baby, Sarah, smiling and excited to meet her son. On the way to the hospital I had images in my head of a girl who needed her mom to help her though this painful ordeal but there she was all smiles. As the day, and her labor, progress Sarah was her usual chatty, funny self. Momentary pauses during her contractions were but a semi-colon in her stories. It was hard to believe when the doctor said she was ready to push, Sarah had barely winced from what I know to be tremeandous pain. It seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. Sarah was calm and focused as she brought her son, my grandson, into this world. In that moment of birth I was not longer Mom, I became Grandma. Never did I think I could love any child more than my own, but I was wrong. Sarah was no longer my baby, she was a battle proven mother who I admired more than anyone. Though I was always careful not to spoil my own children, I found a yearning to give this little boy everything his heart desired. I had a new mission in life, to dote over and spoil my new grandson.'

'The time I woke up in the worst stomach pain imaginable. And found out my appendix was about to rupture unless I immediately got it removed.'

"Have you ever felt pain so intense it makes you cry? I do. I woke up one morning about 6 weeks ago with the worst stomach pain imaginable. It was beyond belief. I am such a deep sleeper I knew it must be bad to have awakened me. It made me curl up in a fetal position and cry. I knew something was terribly wrong. But I have no medical training and didn't know what could be wrong. I knew I needed help, but I live alone. Usually this is fantastic-I have freedom. No one eats my ice cream; I can have soup for dinner; Cereal is great for lunch too. But in an emergency, living alone is a liability. I needed help, fast, but there was no one. Almost.- but Lily the cat wasn't going to help. I worked up my courage and swallowed my fear of what was happening. It felt like a furball. I stumbled to my car. I told Lily I would be back soon (I hoped it would be true). I don't know how I drove to the hospital without being in an accident. I guess the need to not incur an ambulance bill is a desperate motivator. I stumbled into the ER. They say I need surgery for an appendix that will burst. Lily is not going to like this. Not at all."

"My cousins are from England and it was two week visit. We took them out of town to Indianapolis to see the children's museum and zoo. It was a nice time, the weather was beautiful."

"Last month my cousins from England came to my home in Chicago to visit for two weeks. We decided to take a little road trip with them to Indianapolis to visit the children's museum and zoo for the weekend while they were here. The trip wasn't too far and the traffic wasn't bad either, we made pretty good time. The weather was nice for the entirety of the trip, mid 80's and sunny, nothing to complain about. The children's museum was quite interesting and had a ton of interactive things for the kids to mess around with. They looked to be having fun and were running from exhibit to exhibit to see everything the museum had to offer. After they had seen everything there we stopped at the cafe inside to grab some lunch before heading out of the museum and over to the zoo which was conveniently located nearby. The zoo was pretty big so we knew it would take up the remainder of the day, luckily it was only noon so we had plenty of time to see everything. We looked over the map of the zoo to see what we wanted to check out first, the kids wanted to see the large safari animals like the elephants and tigers so that's where we headed first. There was a vehicle you could board that would give you a drive by tour of the animals so we hopped on. We saw elephants, lions, zebras, giraffes and several other animals which the kids liked. They were pointing and trying to take some pictures with their phones. One of the elephants came extremely close to the vehicle and the children couldn't believe what they were seeing. To everyone's surprise, the elephant let out a loud sound that scared everyone, but the tour guide assured us that it was completely normal and to not be afraid. The children were laughing after it happened. After the ride we got off and walked around the rest of the zoo until my cousins' feet began hurting and we decided to call it a day. It was getting dark by then anyways and we left to go find a place for dinner. All in all it was a very good day that everyone enjoyed. We had one more day in Indianapolis and then would head back to Chicago."

'Two women decided on this day to be together from the rest of their lives. They did so in a ceremony attended by friends and family.'

"About 2 months ago, I went to my little sister's wedding. It was a simple affair in the backyard of a friend's house. She was marrying her girlfriend of 5 years. My parents were there as well as my dad's sisters. Also in attendance were her girlfriend's family and friends. The service was lovely. Both brides tried to hold back tears of joy as they gave their vows. Those tears also brought tears to the audience's eyes. Afterward, were took pictures with the brides. While we were doing that, the food was starting to be served. Everything was cooked by various guests of the wedding. The best food served was the burnt ends brought by my dad. The barbecue on them tasted great and the meat was so soft and chewy. It really felt like it came from a professional. Overall, it was a very fun experience. I believe those 2 will be together for the rest of their lives. They are perfect for each other."

"When I was working a big company event at my work, I met a professional baseball player. I didn't realize who he was at first, but at the end of the event I realized who he was and was mad at myself."

'When I was working for the MLB team in the spring, I was working for a company event at the stadium. There were barely any workers there, but I was with some past professional players. One of them, my boss, went to introduce me to a guy named (let\'s call him Al). I didn\'t think anything of this man. When I went to shake his hand, it hurt. He was massive and extremely strong. I thought, "is this Al the legend?" No, there\'s no way it could be. As the event went on, I didn\'t think anything of the occurrence. Al was throwing batting practice to some of the employees. He was also keeping them all entertained by talking on the stadium microphone. At the end of the event, my boss told everyone to thank "Al the legend" for coming to the event! I was shocked that I didn\'t realize it was him. I am still mad to this day that I didn\'t take the time to ask him any questions. I am still on the look out for him at any events to this day. Who knows, maybe I will run into him again and I can learn something valuable from a pro!'

'After volunteering at a marathon I decided to run that same marathon the next year. I trained, froze my butt off, kept at it and then accomplished my goal. I finished the marathon in 8th place.'

'A friend of mine asked me to volunteer at a race she was involved. She asked me to help hand out water, direct people and pretty much just be a a Jill of all trades during the race. I agreed, mainly because she is a good friend and I wanted to keep her, and helped out during the running of the marathon race. I watched the runners when they passed by during the race and thought that I could do that if I trained. I decided, for no real reason other than it was a challenge, to train for and complete a marathon. After my decision I looked up online what the best ways of training for a long distance race were and started to implement them. I trained for a little less than a year. I ran in rain, heat, snow and, worst of all, ice. I hate the winter and detest being cold but I went out and did the work anyway. I had always been athletic, playing sports in college and staying in shape at the gym over the years, but training by myself for a marathon was an entirely different level of fitness. There were days that I literally had to talk myself into training. I would hype myself up, out loud, to make myself go run in the cold. I am sure my husband thought I was crazy as he would come into a room and I would be talking, loudly, to myself to force myself into going out and running 15 miles. There were moments that were sublime, moments that were horrendous but overall, when I ran the race I thought all the training was worth it. I was proud that I had set a goal and completed it all while making my 4 year old daughter a part of the process. I made sure my daughter knew my goal and was there to watch me cross the finish line so she would know that she could set a goal herself, work hard and accomplish that goal. The race itself was more a part of the process as opposed to being the goal.'

'the story captures the death of my young sister who succumbed to death due to an illness that she has been suffering from a while now and it was very painful watching her die without knowing what to do to help her'

"it was about six months ago when my youngest sister started getting sick. suddenly at first it started off as a cold and we took her to hospital but after being checked by the doctors she was diagnosed with malaria. so the doctors prescribed some medicines for us we went to the chemist and bought the medicines and then headed home. after a few days she started recovering. we were very happy and we resumed to living our lives just like before because now she was able to do some chores by herself and she later on started going back to school because she felt better again. After a few weeks i remember it was an evening we had taken our supper and we were all seated at the sitting room me, my younger sister,my dad and my mum watching some news on the television. suddenly my younger sister started complaining that she was feeling very cold my dad suggested that she should go and wear another sweater or bring a blanket and cover herself,she did just that and came back later on she started sweating. we were all very scared because she couldn't talk at all. my dad asked me to go and call the ambulance. as i went i found my mother crying not knowing what to do next. i called the ambulance and after some few minutes the ambulance came and she was rushed to the hospital. we were not allowed all of us to board the ambulance so we followed from behind with our vehicle. When we reached the hospital she had been rushed to the emergency room. we were all worried because we had never seen her in such a situation. we waited for almost 45 minutes without hearing a word from the doctors. After some few more years the doctor came out and told us that our sister was in a very delicate state and she had just died. just hearing that my mum fainted and i don't remember what happened next because when i woke up i was lying on the hospital bed. i started crying because i just watched her die without helping her out.. it was a very disturbing moment for me and my family until now we are still mourning"

'Substance abuse is a life-threatening habit and illness. This event summarizes one of the first events that led to me realizing that enough is enough.'

"I used to be a drug addict. I don't mind admitting it because I know it's a taboo topic and just talking about it might help someone. I want to help as many people as I can with my story. I started using as a teen. I had a bad home life and somehow fell into a bad crowd. I was at a party with my best friend when she offered me some pills. I didn't want to look like a loser, especially since she was a little bit older. So, I took a pill and my whole life changed after that. I was pretty much hooked from then on. My substance abuse got worse as I dabbled into other drugs. I lost so much weight ended up homeless. I had hit rock bottom when I ran into my favorite high school teacher on the street. I was so embarrassed of how I looked and how I had nothing to show for my life. She offered me a place to stay in order to get my life together. I took her up on the offer just because of the embarrassment and she really helped me change my life. I consider her a mother figure now and I can't imagine life without her. I don't want to think of where I would be without her."

'I got hit by a train driving to work. It changed my whole perspective. Sometimes you need a wakeup just ot realize your alive and not on autopilot.'

'This incident happened 3 months ago. It was an unusual fogy morning. I was running late for work and I was in a rush for the meeting that I had at 9 am with my boss. I was driving kind of fast and when I was crossing the train tracks I got stock and my car would not move. I was terrified because there was a train coming my way. I was trying to start up the car but it would not. Then I tried to open my car doors but it would not open. The train ended up hitting a back of my car, sending me flying down the road, thankfully there were no other cars. At that moment the time literally stopped for me. I have seen life flashing through my eyes. Then it went black and I found myself later in a white room with bright lights. Thankfully I was not hurt that bad. But the experience was definitely devastating. It made me to rethink my whole life. It gave me a new outlook on everything around me. Life became more precious to me. I did not even realize how I was coasting through life without a real purpose and was not taking a full control of my life circumstances. I was not living a life, I was on automatic every day, chasing the wrong thing. That was the day when I truly became aware of myself.'

'I recently moved from Louisiana to Colorado. My dad came with me to help me move. We had a bunch of different experiences, some good and some bad.'

"Moving a long distance is a very stressful process, especially when you are moving away from home. It's hard not only physically, with having to sort and pack and sell your things. It's hard emotionally too - leaving behind family and friends. I left behind all of my family and most of my friends - minus a few that live in Colorado already. It was sad to drive away but I was glad to have my dad with me. We saw a lot of interesting sights on our travels, including a family of moose. They were tall and elegant and beautiful but also scary to watch from the road. One of the highlights of the trip was the food we got to eat. I made sure to have a lot of BBQ and Cajun before we left Louisiana. I would not be able to have it again until I came back for Christmas in a few months. My dad and I enjoyed the time to relax from the road and also eat good food together. We ate a lot and then would be super full getting back into the car for the long drive ahead. One of the worst things that happened on our trip was a flat tire that happened in Texas. We were far away from other people and had to wait hours for triple A to come and help us fix it. Even though it was November it was luckily not too cold and we didn't freeze while we waited. I was very glad to have my dad as company or I would have been terrified waiting in the car in the middle of nowhere for that long. It was sad when my dad had to leave to go back home. I was alone in my new apartment and still had a lot of work left to do. I was scared to start my new job. But I knew that I could handle it and my new adventure."

'We got married with our children and my grandparents present. It was a good day overall, though it wasnt all I expected/'

'It was six months ago and I was very happy about my big upcoming day... my wedding! My second wedding to my most wonderful husband ever.. our 10th anniversary. Maybe people think I should have waited another 10 years but there are key people in my life I wanted to witness us renew our vows and as morbid it may sound, possibly will not be with us another ten years. Added addition to the ceremony is our lovely 6 year old daughter who were our flower girl. I bought a simple, yet pretty gown and my husband got a tailored made suit. Our daughter got the prettiest dress ever and we set the date over the winter on the beach in our local city, Miami. The ceremony was beautiful and my husband and I expressed our love to each other and the blessing,m our daughter we have created. We had a small gathering following the ceremony in our backyard where our guests can mingle. Everyone goes to our home and good food, music, and drinks is served. The open bar was a hit, maybe too much of it as few of the guests, including my husband got sloppy drunk. While others danced with drunk(ness) on the dance floor, including my husband, one, my "lovely" uncle step it up a notch and started to flirt with other women, while aunt is present and gotten rowdy. I was somewhat embarrassed and my aunt came to me to say she will handle it and taken my inebriated uncle outside to calm down. Luckily all this transpired shortly after my daughter went inside the house with a older cousin whom we asked to babysit my daughter. Aside from my husband who could not remember half of the night and my crazy uncle who had to sleep away his liquor, overall the wedding was beautiful and everyone enjoyed themselves. I got another chance to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary and once again fall in love with husband. That night also serves a reminder why I am once pregnant again months later.'

'I got fajitas. The waiter almost tripped with the fajitas but the meal was good and I had a good day.'

"A week ago, I almost got into an accident. I went to the restaurant for a nice meal. I started the meal with a nice glass of water. It was very refreshing. I then got a bowl of queso to eat. It was the right temperature. It was very good to eat. It came with chips and salsa. They were both delicious. I then ordered fajitas for the main meal. They were steak fajitas. Right when the fajitas were about to be brought out, the waiter almost tripped. I had a sweat and a bit of a panic for a second. I'm glad he didn't trip. That would of been a disaster in the making. I made sure to give him a big tip for our near trip to the hospital."

'A crazy bachelorette party that ended with a finger nail in my drink, a lot of embarrassment, and being cut off.'

"My sister's bachelorette party. What a night. 3 months later and I still can't believe she got married, never thought she'd get over her last boyfriend. Decided to go out downtown, which I don't really know that well but it's what she wanted. Luckily she knows how to get around since I was already tipsy before we left since we pre gamed at my house. That was a mistake. I was drinking more then usual since I didn't really know any of her friends that were out with us and I was kind of nervous. By the time we made it to the third or fourth bar I was hammered. So looking back I think she planted a fingernail in my drink as a joke. I was so drunk I thought the bartender had planted it. Why, who knows. So I made a huge scene about it in the bar. She was trying to stop me and calm me down but I was so disgusted I didn't want too. The bartender got really offended and we got in too it. Told me I'd had enough and to leave. Luckily my sister was able to convince him that we could stay and I didn't ruin her party. Although I doubt she'll invite me out with her friends again any time soon."

'I moved out of my families home and got a new apartment and went shopping and did laundry all for the first time on my own.'

'dear diary, this is the best day ever. i finally made a decision to move. i decided to move to a whole new apartment in the city. it is a great place to be. there is a whole foods down the block. a best buy two blocks away and a huge park a few blocks away. i love it here. this is a great change in my life. this is really important for me because i never lived on my own before. i am used to living with my family. i am a late bloomer i guess, spending so much time living at home. the world is so much different when you have to take care of everything on your own. doing laundry is a new experience. im used to dumping my clothes in a bag and letting my mom do it for me while im at work, coming home to being done. now i have to take time out my week to go to the laundromat and do it myself. Going food shopping at the supermarket is new i guess, i have ordered online groceries before but never went out and did shopping, i left that to my moms. this is all new and all great.'

'I spent vacation with my family and siblings in Canada which is one of our family vacations. We went to different beautiful and mesmerizing tourist spots.'

'Last July of this year, my brother and his family who lives in the Philippines, Me and my family, my mom and our youngest brother, all met up in Vancouver, Canada where my sister and his family lives. We were all there for 3 weeks for our annual family vacation. Our stay there was very memorable because we went to places where some movies and TV series\' were filmed. We went to Hatley Park National Historic Site where X-Men were filmed. We also went to the place were Once Upon a Time was filmed. It is where "StoryBrooke" was filmed. The place where the bakery and the coffee shop were located. We also went to Capilano Bridge. It is a long bridge and it is kind of scary because it is high and the bridge is kind of shaky. We also went to Whistler Village. The view there was very mesmerizing with all the mountains surrounding our hotel. The most memorable event for me during our vacation was when we stayed at my sister\'s apartment. Why? Because their apartment is just walking distance from the mall, the train and the convenience stores! It\'s just 5 minutes away! I was literally at the mall almost everyday!'

'My dad has a history of medical issues. He was diagnosed with kidney failure, but is getting a new kidney.'

"Two weeks ago, we found out that my father needs a kidney transplant due to kidney failure. He is the rock of our family, and the idea that he needs surgery is scary. He will undergo a full transplant on Thursday morning. The surgery begins at 8:00am and ends at 11:00am. He will be in the hospital for about a week before returning home. His long term prognosis is a return to full health. After surgery, his restrictions will include an inability to lift weights. My mother and sister are distraught, but glad he will be home soon. His manager at work has said he will be paid in full during his time away. That takes a lot of stress off the family in general. As for me, I am scared. My father means everything to me, and with his history of medical issues, this is a scary time. That being said, he has amazing doctors who will take care of him. I'm also lucky to have a great girlfriend to support me through all of this. I really hope that my father will be OK after his surgery."

'After my boyfriend began acting suspicious, I took it upon myself to figure out why. I followed him one night, only to discover he was cheating on me.'

'Since this event has happened, I have since reconciled with my boyfriend. I was incredibly angry and upset with him at first, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. But, as time passed, he continued to try to contact me. Eventually, I gave in, and we are now back together. I do not regret my decision, and I do believe that our relationship is stronger than it was before. I do sometimes get feelings of suspicion or feelings that he is going to cheat on me once again, but I try to see past those feelings because I know that he really loves me. I never told my parents about the situation because I know that they would never want me to see him again. They would have told me that I need to know my self worth and that I should be with someone who would never do that to me. I agree, but I think he made a mistake that hopeful he will learn from and we will overcome as a couple. It has not been easy, but I still love him and care about him, and I am trying to make this work the best that I can. If this does happen again, however, I will never see him again. I have made a promise to myself that I will do my best to look out for myself and I will leave him if he ever cheats again. I do not want to be one of those girls who gets repeatedly cheated on and stays anyway. I will not let that be me. But i am truly hoping that he will change as a person.'

'My house burned down in April. Because it took the fire department so long to get to our house, almost everything was ruined by the time they put it out. Despite that and the fact that everything I owned was destroyed, I am just thankful that my family made it out okay.'

"My house burned down and I lost everything I owned. One night I heard a loud noise and jumped out of bed, running to the living room because I thought the noise had come from out there. Seeing nothing and returning to my room, I saw that the area right next to my bed was on fire because my phone or laptop had overheated and exploded next to my bed. The most memorable part of this event to me was how tall the fire was next to my bed, and the realization that we weren't going to be able to put it out because it had grown too quickly. I woke up my mom, who ran to the side of the bed and began trying to smother the fire out, but it was too big and continued spreading, We went to my brother's room and woke him up, causing his cat to startle and run to the kitchen. At this point the fire had continued spreading through the house, but my brother ran into the kitchen and wouldn't leave until he had his cat, so we had to help him coax her out before we could all leave the house. We then left the house and called my dog, who followed us out. We called the fire department as we began walking to my uncle's house because our car keys had been left inside. We waited at our uncle's house for over half an hour (our house is very difficult to find) until we finally saw the fire truck come into view of our driveway. They went back to our house and put the fire out, but by then it was too late and all of my stuff along with most of my house had been destroyed. We then called my dad, who was working the night shift, to let him know what had happened. He left work and drove to our aunt's house, while we tried to contact our insurance because we had been informed that there was a chance they would put us up in a hotel while we waited on our house to be rebuilt. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Not only would they not pay for us to temporarily stay somewhere, but they also weren't going to pay for the rebuild. We had the cheapest insurance plan, which meant that the most they would do was pay off the rest of our mortgage, which was almost paid off anyways. Having nowhere else to stay and no way to rebuild, we had to move in with my great-grandmother."

'it is my engagement day ceremony.i going to marriage with my lover.i really looking for that day become more lovable and memorable.'

'Three months ago I was sitting on a barbecue pit, waiting for my mother to pick me up froma friends house. Within the 30 minutes time period, I spotted two men working on private well in the yard. One of the men was a bit older than I, but I kept watching him because he was so handsome! He must have been watching me as well because he walked up to me and introduced himselfas Joe Gardner. I was so nervous and could barely answer his questions. He told me a bit about himself and then asked me, "Would you like to go out with me?"Being only 17 and quite fascinated with him, I answered in the affirmative. The next day he called me and we went to eat and then to a movie. When he brought mehome, he kissed me and put his large hands around my waist and was impressed that hisfingers actually touched on each side!! We dated for several months and then one evening, while sitting in the car in front of myhouse, he said, "How\'d you like to marry me?" Overwhelmed, I hugged him and said yes! We were not wealthy and had little money to buy a wedding dress. A friend of mine who\'d married just a few months before offered to "loan" me her wedding dress. OnlyI had to "rent" it from her to the tune of $50. 00!! Nice friend!!We went to my minister and asked him if he would officiate. He, of course, said yes. Meanwhile, my mother and best friend had set up a bridal shower at the church. Itwas a big surprise when I walked in and found 25 ladies sitting there, waiting for me. The table was set with lovely flowers and candy dishes full of chocolate candy. Good for me! I really was blessed with all that I\'d need to start a home and kitchen! The wedding was simple. I wore the borrowed dress and looked like a princess in it! At leastthat\'s what my husband said. We took off for a 3 day honeymoon and it took us 5 hours to get to the promised steak househe\'d told me about! They had already closed up but my new husband was hungry and told them we\'d just married and he was "starved."After leaving the steak house, we found a motel that he could afford. I was a bit apprehensivebecause I\'d never slept with a man before. When he went to sleep, I got my pillow and blanket and slept at the foot of the bed all night! He awoke and came and picked me up and carried me to the bed and I finally slept.'

"I separated from my husband who divorced me. My life has gone on and I still have hope. If you're in an abusive relationship, you can get out and stay out."

"6 months ago I left my husband, who 4 months ago divorced me. I am going on 8 months not living with him or seeing him much and my life has truly gotten better. It was really hard at first because I kept hearing things from others that surprised me. He was seeing another woman. He was using illegal substances. He claims now that he is an alcoholic because of me. I think the illegal substance use was the most surprising to me to find out. I had no clue. Looking back it is honestly crazy how I was with such an abusive persona and with a drug addict. How could I be with someone like this and have no clue? This just proves how much abuse can blind you. I would tell anyone going through the same situation that there is hope. Things get better with time, that is a promise. I would also tell them that just because you leave doesn't mean they will change either. You should have been good enough for him to change while you were there, not because you threaten to leave."

'I found out my friend died from brain cancer while I was teaching. The kids, who normally misbehaved, where much more compassionate than I expected.'

'A good friend of mine, had been sick for a while. She was young only 24, and she had brain cancer. It was sudden, and spread fast. One weekend she got married to her fiance. I wasn\'t there, but saw pictures, and she was clearly very sick. The following Thursday, I got a text from my partner. She had died. I dropped my phone. I was at work where I am a substitute teacher. That day I was working in room full of 4th graders who gave me a lot of trouble. I knew them well, but they were always getting in trouble. When I dropped my phone everything stopped. Suddenly they became very concerned and asked me what was wrong. It took me a few minutes to be able to say anything. When I finally could all I could say was "My friend died". One of the kids, I think it was a boy who was particularly a bother, went and got one of the security gaurds. He covered for me until I was okay enough to come back into the room.'

'After graduation, my partner and I took a celebratory vacation. We toured the Southwest and rounded back up to Missouri.'

"After graduation from our Masters programs, my partner and I took a road trip style vacation. We toured the Southwest United States and rounded back up to Missouri from Tennessee. We got to see a lot of interesting characters along the way. First, we went west to Colorado where we stayed with a friend studying aerospace. Next, we traveled down through Utah where we spent time at Arches National Park. We sped south and stopped at the Grand Canyon, only to find out it was snowing and so foggy we couldn't see anything. We next headed to Tuscon where we stayed with family and experienced car trouble. We spent three days working on our van. After Arizona, we made a quick stop in Roswell in search of aliens. Next we drove to Texas to visit a friend and see Corpus Christie. We headed to Louisiana afterwards to see family and all the Big Easy has to offer. We hit the road to Tennessee next where we visited a friend we hadn't seen in a long while before heading back to Missouri, where we quickly had to move out of our apartment. We made a lot of memories and got to experience more of the United States than many have. After being in school for the better part of 20 years straight, I think we were deserving of something like our vacation. I hope to continue these adventures with my partner, even if we have to sleep in Walmart parking lots to do it."

'My family and I moved over the summer and bought our first property. It is a difficult and stressful process but there has been so much good to come out of it. There is always going to be an end to the moving and then the good stuff can happen!'

"This summer we moved! However, we did not just move we bought our first house. We didn't move very far from the townhome that we were renting but the process of buying a house and moving when you have kids is all very challenging for sure. I am 47 years old and I catch myself thinking that I will be able to do these things the way I could before but then I realize that before all this I wasn't married, had no kids and was younger and had more energy! It's been about 3 months now and the worst of it is over and I feel relaxed and pretty settled in. There's always some fun things to for example, I thought it was fun to have my first Ring doorbell set up, and of course not having to deal with landlords anymore and their just greed and total lack of understanding that we needed things like heat and a working stove. Right now sitting at home and working I think if I was still living in that place and trying to get through this day there would be this huge cloud of stress over me from that situation. I also have a better layout now though where I don't have to go up and down stairs all the time like you have to do in a townhome. And we're a single family home! No more shared walls! There's so many good things now and I'm so happy and thankful that we were able to do this. One of the best things to come out of this was pretty surprising - instead of just leaving wall mounts the previous owners left behind 2 smart tvs! They actually also left behind a pool table but during the property negotiations we were pretty sure that they would be leaving that. They may not have expected to leave or give so many things but I think that they had so many property transactions going on and so much of their own moving stress that they just had to do whatever to be done with it all and move with kids and dogs and all the things that must have made their own move very difficult. I think they were actually a week or two between closings as well the way that their timing worked out and they had to store everything and just live in a hotel for awhile. It's much easier to go from renting to buying a house then to go from one property that you own to another I think. I'm glad things worked out the way they did for us and I think everything worked out for the sellers as well. They were definitely a blessing to us."

'We went to help our grandparents. A person entirely unrelated to us got out of hand. We feared for our lives and decided to wash our hands of the situation.'

'When i went to my grand parent the other day it was a mess. My cousin decided to bring this friend. At first he was cool and down to earth. However, when alcohol was involved I saw them take a turn for the worst. They started to provoke my family in ways that made me mad. I thought I should just try to remove him from the situation. It started to get physical after that. I saw that my cousin lost control of the situation and he assisted me in removing them. It was something out of a horror film to be honest. This random cam out of no where and just started threatening people. It was at that point I was like enough is enough. We called the police afterwards. He ran back to wherever he came from. It was something that weekend. I wont forget this for years to come.'

"My dog passed away recently. It made me think of how unfair it really is that dogs live for so little. They really deserve to live as long as us, they're so good."

"2 months ago, I lost one of my best friends. Buddy, my German shepherd that I've had since I was 10, died after 15 years. I was lucky he lived so long, but still. 15 years is so short. Why do they only live so little? We deserve more time with them right? They deserve longer lives, but that's not what they get. I'm glad for the time I had with him. He made me really happy. During the times that I struggled the most at school and home, he was there. He always climbed up in bed to comfort me when I would cry. He would jump on the side of the bed to wake me up and then pull me outside once I got the leash on him. He always wanted to go for walks and play. I loved that dog. He was my first dog. I chose him myself. I also named him. At least he died of old age. At least we didn't have to put him down. I'm going to miss him. He was such a good boy."

"My grand child experienced her first 4th of July in a truly awesome way. She had the best time of her live and couldn't stop smiling about it."

"Wow, I can't believe it's already been two months. My grand daughter just turned four. This was her first fourth of July celebration. She had never been to a celebration because she was so small. But now, she was ready. We went to a parade first thing in the morning. We watched the fire trucks and band members and horses going by. She was absolutely mesmerized. The backyard picnic was great. She had a hamburger dowsed in ketchup. She loved the watermelon. As the sun began to set, we took her to the park. We sat in our lawn chairs with the rest of the town. When the firworks show began , her little face lit up. She just could not stop smiling that day. She is still talking and drawing pictures about that wonderful day."

"An old girlfriend of mine is dying of breast cancer - just found out today. I have not been in contact with her - heard it through a mutual friend - and we haven't been together for 20 years, but it still hits me rather hard to hear she is doing so poorly."

"Today, I learned that an ex girlfiend of mine has stage 3 breast cancer. She and I were together shortly after high-school, and though the relationship didn't end all that well, I thought of her often. We had some good times and she was around for a part of my life when I really needed someone. She moved on, as did I. She moved to another state, got married. I remained here, got married and had kids of my own. Even though, I still frequently thought of her and the good times we had. Hearing this news today really hit me - I keep thinking back to high school, the good times we had and the adventures we went on. Now that I'm middle aged, I think of my own mortality (I'm healthy), but this really hit me hard to hear she is dying - literally dying. Her prognosis is not good. I'm not sure exactly how to feel, or whatI should feel, if I should reach out or not...Things didn't end well but I still care for her, even after 20 years has gone by. I saw her picture and she is as gorgeous as I remember. Tough day all around. I guess I didn't know just how hard news like this would hit me. I'm feeling a little confused and not quite sure how to process all this."

'Our family was walking at the lake. I needed to rest. My grandson surprisingly decided to join me in my rest, and in the end, it sort of saved the day.'

'I was hiking near Lake Ontario with my partner and our two grandkids. It was a beautiful sunny day. The lake sparkled brilliantly. I have a bad knee, so I was struggling with some of the physical activity. My partner suggested that I rest a bit on a fallen log. I was nervous, because I would not be able to get up by myself, but I agreed. My partner and my granddaugther wanted to hike further to see the bluffs. I said I would be OK for a bit, but my sweet grandson insisted on staying with me. He said, "I won\'t let my granny sit in the forest all alone." Well it was a good thing. My partner and granddaughter didn\'t return in a reasonable amount of time. We got very nervous! My grandson is 10 years old, but not strong enough to help me up. He searched for a stout walking stick and found one nearby. I used it to prop myself up, and managed to get my feet underneath me. Together we went down the shore to find the rest of our party. Luckily all was well, but I would truly have been distraught if I had been all alone waiting for so long!'

'The passing of my brother in law. A favorite relative of mine. This was very emotional time for me as we enjoyed each others company ofte.'

"I don't really know what to say right now. I feel like someone reached into my guts and starting pulling everything out. Three weeks ago my brother passed away suddenly. The shock from receiving the news still hasn't worn off. I still think that the phone is going to ring and my brother will be on the other end, asking if I want to come over to watch the game. What am I supposed to do now? We spent so much time together, almost daily. The void left by his absence makes me feel like I am being pulled out of my own body. I remember a time when we went to the football game together. The tickets were pretty cheap and the weather was bitter cold. We still had a ton of fun. My brother even had an entire beer spilled on him after a touchdown was scored. We both looked at each other and started to laugh. He was a good person. He was my best friend."

'A warm summer morning with a Humming Bird. How I had a communal moment with nature by misting a Humming Bird with a garden hose.'

'Every saturday i tend my garden. I started putting up feeders around to see some of the nature. For the first few weeks I got nothing and no activity, then about a month ago animals came. Mostly squirrels at first and a few deer, and one tiny humming bird. I was out misting the peonies and the bird kept flitting in and out of the hose. I moved the hose and the bird moved too. Eventually i got a chair and just sat spraying the mist and letting the bird flutter around. They are incredibly beautiful creatures and also very small. I worried i might get it too wet to fly but that didnt happen. I was happy the bird was there and it seemed happy to be getting misted. It was a wonderful moment of man and nature coming together. As the bird flew away I smiled and hoped he would be back again. So far i havent seen him but i will remember the simple joy i got that morning. I am glad i could provide for nature and enjoy moments like that. I hope everyone can take some time to enjoy the little things in life.'

"Taking the morning off of work to go and see a bear in my friend's basement. Yes, he really did have a bear in his basement."

'Ah yeah. I was getting ready to go to work one morning. It was the usual deal, making breakfast and the lot. I get a call from a buddy of mine, "Hey, man, I need your help." We\'ve been friends for an age and so I was fine with it. I figured he needed some input on something. No bid deal. "Sure man, what\'s up." "There\'s a bear in the house." Now this I wasn\'t expecting. "By bear... Do you mean like, an old gay guy, or you mean, like, Yogi Bear?" There was silence for a second and then, "Dude, why would I be calling you about an old gay guy in my house? I mean a bear, bear." I knew I needed to get to work, and that if I was late, then the boss might be pissed, but okay, I\'m game. "Alright, I\'ll be right over." So I drive over to his place and walk in. His wife is in the house being all emotional. I tell her, "Don\'t call the cops, all they will do is shoot it." "Where is your better half at?" "He\'s downstairs." I walk to the basement steps. "So bear?" He points. Sure enough, there is a black bear, maybe the size of a medium sized dog curled up on either a laundry pile or a few old blankets. "Alright, we can call a trapper out here and they can bait the little monster out. It\'ll be fine." I had to get some pictures so I would have something to show the boss. A trapper showed up a little while later. After maybe 15 minutes and a $400 check from my friend, the bear was back out in the world doing whatever bears do.'

"I usually hate birthdays. But my girlfriend made it awesome. Maybe birthdays aren't so bad after all."

"I usually hate birthdays, but last month my girlfriend made my birthday awesome. She made reservations at a hotel and restaurant in a nearby city. She drove me to the city on Saturday. We spent the afternoon shopping. She bought me the smartwatch I had been looking at for several months. After we went shopping, we checked into a suite the Intercontinental Hotel. After spending some time relaxing in our suite, we went to dinner. We had dinner at a highly-rated local barbecue restaurant that happens to be one of my favorites. I had a smoked brisket sandwich with french fries. My girlfriend had smoked chicken. The dinner was delicious, as usual, and we enjoyed our dining experience very much. My girlfriend surprised me again with tickets to a play at a local theater. The play was very good. We returned to our suite after the play concluded. Our suite looked out to a wonderful nighttime view of the city. The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed home. Maybe birthdays aren't so bad after all."

'I took my five year old shopping to prepare for Kindergarten. He is going in a couple of weeks, and there is a lot to do in that time.'

"Well today we went back to school shopping! It was so much fun to see him choosing all of his supplies and really realizing that he will be all grown up and in school here soon. He chose a Minecraft backpack which was pretty surprising to me because I didn't realize that he liked it so much. It was really cute though to learn about what he likes. I kept thinking about how much I had left to do, I need to get him a haircut and clean the house and attend all sorts of school meetings. I'm still really excited though. We are a couple of weeks out, now. I feel like that time will definitely pass quickly. Hopefully I can keep track of my to-do list and get it all done. I think first of all we'll go get his haircut done tomorrow. Later in the week I can clean the house and everything. I'm just so excited for this new chapter in our lives. I'm so proud of our kid for growing up so fast. I can't wait to see what he'll learn and how he'll change. This whole thing is more exciting that I ever expected it to be. I hope it all goes great."

'there was a full time opening at my position a few months back. i applied for it along with several others. after a grueling process, i was granted the promotion.'

'dear diary,today I was told that i finally received the promotion. it was a tough interview process, and it has really stressed me out lately. i was legitimately going to quit if i did not get the promotion, i certainly deserved it the most. it means so much to be able to get this job. i can finally be independent if i need to move out. i dont think i will, i want to save pretty much all the money i make from this job, i am very excited. i told my girlfriend and my mom, and i just cannot contain myself. it feels like the first major step of being an adult. i am so ready for that next step and i am taking it day by day. when my boss called me to his office i thought for sure they were going to tell me they went in a different direction. however, he told me that i got the job, and what my new salary would be. i was not expecting it to be so high, i thought it was 5k lower. imagine my elation! i know the job will have stresses, but not making money will not be one of them. in a few years i can and will buy a house in cash. that is the most exciting part, cutting down my time to own a house.'

'I went camping with my family and we had fun in the sun. It was a time of relaxation and recharging when I though it would be tiring and hard work.'

"Today we went camping in the Great Smokie Mountains. The weather was a little bit cooler than at home, which was nice to get away from the summer heat. We had never taken our daughter camping before so I was not sure how well this was going to work out. Turns out she really likes it! When we arrived we found our camping spot and unloaded our gear. L helped us set up the tent, which went better than expected. I thought for sure we would have problems getting it set up. but all the poles were accounted for and getting it pitched was easier than I remembered. After setting up our tent, we made sure to secure our food so as that any creatures would not make a snack of it. That goodness for locking coolers. After getting our sleeping bags and foam mats squared away we went down to the river to wade around a bit. You would think water in July would be warmer but boy was it cold. Not for being one for fishing, we looked for pretty rocks in the crystal clear water and then headed back to camp to start the fire for cooking dinner. We roasted hot dogs on sticks and made smores for desert. Turns out she really like s her marshmallows burnt. Takes after mom I guess. We still had a good bit of day light left so L went to play with a group of kids with a family that was also camping until it was getting to dark to see. Then the fire flies came out. We spent the evening looking at the stars and the fireflies until it was time for bed. All in all it was a really relaxing day and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings."

'The event is about the loss of my pet dog, Jesse. I lost him unexpectedly one morning when I woke up. The story is about our adventure the day before and my final moments with him before he passed.'

"A few months ago, I had an experience that I will never forget. My beloved dog, Jesse, passed away while I sat with him in his final moments. He was 13 years old and I never expected to lose him at that age. I always thought he would be with me for many years and that we would share many memories together. Unfortunately, our time was cut short and I had to say a very painful goodbye to him. He passed unexpectedly so I didn't have time to emotionally prepare for the loss. The day before, something told me that I needed to take a day and take him out and have a good time. We went out for a ride and went to Burger King, one of his favorite places to eat. He had a cheeseburger with bacon and he ate almost the whole thing. I brought him home that night and took him to bed like usual. When I woke up the next morning, I noticed that he was having a hard time breathing. I covered him up with a blanket. I knew that by the time I could call the vet, he wouldn't still be with me. I cried as I sat with him, petting him softly and keeping him calm by letting him know I was there with him and wouldn't leave him. I could see him leaving me as his breathing started to get slower. As much as i wanted to beg and plead for him to stay with me, I couldn't stand to see him suffer. Once I knew he passed, I sat with him for another few minutes. I couldn't bring myself to move; it was almost as if I was frozen. I couldn't believe I had to say goodbye to my loyal best friend that had been with me for so long. He was, and will always be my Jesse. As I look around my house today, it is almost like I can still feel him and hear him around me. I know he will always be with me in spirit."

'I got a promotion and it changed my life. I was struggling with depression and anxiety and change of work time is helping me a big deal.'

"I finally got a promotion! After years of asking for a change of shift from graveyard, I was finally given the opportunity to be free from it. But also got a promotion. I was working graveyard shift for almost one and a half years... In that period I was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety, which wasn't fun. But it gave me a new perspective. I changed a lot of things because of that, and once I got out of the psych ward in hospital I've put a request for change of shift. Since then I started working out, changed my diet and got back to school. It was difficult and mind numbing. And now, a couple weeks ago, my boss called me to a meeting. There he told me that I'm getting a shift that I wanted, but on top of that I will get a promotion. It is small, nothing significant, to be honest. But still there's a pay raise and some new responsibilities for me. I was over the moon about these news. And at first I couldn't believe it... So I didn't change my routine or anything, I was in sort of denial. But then the day came, of my new schedule and new position. I was nervous and scared, I don't know of what. But I started going to bed when normal people do, I finally had time to walk around in the sunlight. And I immediately started feeling much better. I'm really happy that this happened to me. I still can't believe how much joy I get from just being in the sun and being able to sleep at night instead of working."

'This is a story about me and how I decided to stop loving on auto pilot. I chose to change everything.'

"Life happens so quickly that sometimes you don't realize how much of it has passed. You just wake up each day and go through the same routine as though you're on auto pilot. You wake the kids, walk the dog and go to work then the next thing you know the work day is over then it's back home to get ready for bed and start the cycle all over again. Days turn into weeks and weeks into months and you wonder where the time went while waiting to reach this destination of happiness you've been longing to find for as long as you can remember. Recently, in one of those brief moments of wonder and longing I did more than reminisce over time and it's elusive passing. I decided that I was tired of the same thing every day and tired of the waiting for something more when it's not possible to know how much time you have left. I keep waiting for this happiness like it's a destination when I had to remind myself that being happy is a mood. Sometimes it's brief and sometimes it's replaced by sadness, bitterness, or anger. I reminded myself it was time to actually live my life and that meant having more of these happy moments so I decided to get off of auto pilot and truly live. I had been at the same job for almost 7 1/2 years and it has been a great place to work, but felt stuck in a job I just had to go to because I felt it was my only option. I had found extra work in an online platform and it was nice to have extra income in times when I needed it. I started to think about my job and how I had to miss out on things with my kids because of work and I decided to just quit. Out of the blue, I just quit my job after 7 1/2 years and decided I was going to support myself and my children by committing to work full time online so I would be a single stay at home mom. After I actually done this I felt empowered but by the next day I felt terrified because I had devoted 7 1/2 years to a job I had planned to retire from. I questioned myself and then realized, this chapter was officially over. I had taken the kids to school and it was time for me to get online and work. This was almost 3 weeks ago. It has been a struggle so far and I'm learning how to navigate my time when it comes to working online, but it's been rewarding. This destination of happiness, while I realized it's a mood and not so much a destination, I have spent much more time feeling it. I've not only been able to take my kids to school, but I've actually been able to watch my 14 year old son's soccer games and haven't missed a baseball practice for my younger son and we've spent more time hiking and going to the dog park. I know it won't be easy but I am tired of living on auto pilot. For the first time in as long as I can even remember I'm happy and that's an incredible feeling. I hope to find more work online because I need more income soon, but I feel as though things will work out for the best. Sometimes you have to choose yourself and actually live. This was my time and I'm proud to say I chose me."

'A Forth of July Birthday Party. The Party included fireworks and a cookout. The whole family came and had a good time.;'

"The event I'm going to write about is a birthday party that we had for my husband on the forth of July. The thing that made it special was that both children and their husbands were able to be there. We shot off fireworks on the front patio and cooked hot dogs on sticks in the fire pit. The girls gave their dad gifts and then everyone played a bomb game on the switch. It was a great family moment. The day was a sunny day and we cleaned up the yard and the house before all the family arrived. The oldest daughter arrived first and she brought fireworks and cupcakes. She put a sparkler into one of the cupcakes after the other daughter and her husband arrived and we all went out on the porch and sang happy birthday. Then we took the rest of the sparklers and lit off fireworks for the next hour our so. Some of them were very pretty and some of them were not that great. The whole neighborhood was full of loud booms. We were glad that the dog could no longer hear or she would have been going insane. The kids left late in the evening and just the two of us watched the fireworks over the valley. It was one of the best birthdays that I've shared with my husband. I think he enjoyed this special day as much as I did."

"My birthday celebration in June was the beginning of healing for my family. Since my mother's death, I have leaned on my extended family more for support. We have been able to heal old wounds and come together again."

"I was estranged from my extended family for a long time. We have recently started to spend time together again. My birthday was in June. Traditionally, I would spend my birthday with my mother. We would go to a movie, and then out to eat, and we would end the day with birthday cake. Since my mother died two years ago, my birthday has been very sad. But this year, I invited her sister and brother to share the day with me. We went to see The Secret Life of Pets 2, which we all enjoyed. We had a nice lunch out together. And then we came back to my house for birthday cake. They really made the day special and memorable for me. If I couldn't spend it with my mom, at least I could spend it with people who loved her as much as I did. We had such a good time that day that we decided to re-start some old family traditions that I remember from my childhood. Since then we have also celebrated my uncle's birthday and had a great time that day too. We are making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am happy that my birthday celebration was the beginning of healing old rifts in my family."

'We traveled to D.C to drop off my friend at the airport about a month ago. We ended up getting lost in a parking garage.'

"My friend was traveling to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C and needed a ride to the airport. We readily agreed because we thought we might see some of the sights of our nation's capital while there. The drive itself was uneventful. As was dropping our friend off for his flight to Los Angeles. The fun happened when we went to see the Lincoln Memorial. Washington, D.C. is so confusing and has so much traffic. We knew we needed to park near to the memorial, but the roads and directions were a little bit confusing. Finally, we happened upon a parking garage near the memorial. As it turns out, we got turned around and found ourselves in the wrong parking garage. We were no where near the Lincoln Memorial! We were across the town at a different memorial. Because the traffic was so bad and confusing we decided to visit that area instead. It was neat. But, it was not what we had hoped to see."

'A story about how random events and circumstances came together and I met my now boyfriend. Our history is short, but it has been very fast-paced and wonderful.'

'The Monday before the 4th of July, I went out for a drink at a local bar where one of my friends was working. I did not expect it to be an eventful night or anything, I had just had a long day and wanted to go out for a drink. While I was at the local bar, my friend, the bartender, mixed up my drink order and later re-purposed that drink into a round of shots for him, myself, and another patron at the bar. My friend introduced me to the other patron and said that we would get along. After we took the shots, the other patron and I started a conversation and the conversation was light and cordial, but I really got along with the other patron. We got along so well in fact that we ended up staying until the bar closed that night talking. The conversation with the other patron was very easy and we quickly transitioned into talking about a variety of different topics including music, what we did, where we were from, and other topics, including what was around the area since he had just moved to the area. We did not exchange numbers or anything that night, but then I saw the same patron that Wednesday night, the third of July. When I saw him in the bar, I went over to him to say hi and we started off talking small talk again. Even though this was only the second time I had met him, we got along so well and the conversation was so easy that it felt like we had known one another for much longer. That night we ended up hanging out talking until the morning. That Friday, the fifth of July, we actually intentionally met up at the bar for drinks and ended up hanging out all night again too. Ever since that Friday, the fifth of July, we have seen each other every single day, often for most of the day, especially on the weekends. The random patron I met on a random Monday night in a local bar, who had just moved to the area, ended up becoming a good friend very quickly and that friendship quickly transitioned into a relationship. Now eight weeks later, we are still together and we have already discussed moving in together since we spend so much time together and he is mostly at my place, and several weeks ago we told each other that we loved one another. The way we met was completely random, and we might not have ever met had I not decided to go out that Monday night, had his roommate not told him about the local bar, or had a different bartender been working, but I am very thankful that all those things, and more, did happen because I have gained a relationship and have been very happy since meeting my now boyfriend.'

'A mass shooting happened in our community, and over a year and a half later - the scars are fresher than ever.'

"So, this was actually a follow up to a tragic event that happened to my community. A bit over a year and a half ago - our community changed as we knew it. There was a mass shooting at our local high school. It left 17 of our students dead, and many more injured. It has been really, really hard for us as a community. While I work with students, luckily I did not lose any I knew. Anyway, so the event I'm specifically writing about happened maybe 2 months ago: it's been a while since the shooting itself, but the scars will always be there. The PTSD. All of it. So we were sitting in our church service, specifically for students, when something happens. I don't know if it was a mic error, or someone dropped something that echo'd, but there was a loud POP. It was loud. One of our students who had been injured in the shooting heard it, and he RAN. He ran and ran. He left the building completely before he recognized that it was okay, he was fine. It was heartbreaking to see - a year and a half later, how much destruction was in our community still. I can't believe it happened to this day."

'I came to visit my mother in the hospital during a prolonged and terminal illness. I arrived to find her terrified and hallucinating due to a medication she was given. It was very upsetting to see.'

"During my mother's end of life, she made several trips between care facilities and the hospital. One day when I went to the hospital to visit my mother, she was clearly very disoriented. She appeared to have no recognition of my presence and appeared to see something off to her right. She seemed alarmed and frightened. As her health declined, she showed a decline in memory and some personality changes from day to day, however this was the most disconnected I had ever seen her and the seeming fear was new. I could deal with her feisty attitudes, however seeing mom terrified was terribly upsetting. I went to the nurses' station and they indicated that they would have the doctor come to her room. The doctor, upon her arrival, explained that my mother had experienced difficulty in falling asleep the night before, so they had given her a new medicine. She successfully slept all night and all day, but had awoken not long before my arrival. It seems that hallucinations were a side effect of the medicine. The doctor assured me that they would not give her that medicine again. One reason that the moment stands out in my recent memory is that I tend to be very stoic. I seldom show emotion in public. I was so distressed over my mother's condition that I could not stop sobbing in front of the doctor. I was embarrassed by my lack of control, but was overwhelmed by seeing my mother appearing to suffer. My mother has since passed away. That was probably the most difficult visit that I paid her during the end of her life."

'This was basically about my dog dying. How he just went no matter what I did. The feelings I had about this horrid event.'

"Well, unfortunately this event happened to me a few months ago and it will always be with me. It's not a happy tale. But it is memorable for it was the day my beloved dog died. I was doing everything I could for him. Yet, his 20 year old body just didn't want to go on. It couldn't defy time I guess. I carried his emaciated body to the tub to wash him a few times a day. I fed him through a syringe a few times each day. I gave him intravenous fluids. I gave him supplements. At times he'd seem to come back to life a bit. To be his former self. The dog I'd spent more than half my life with, through ups and down and everything. How could my rock, my best friend ever, be leaving me like this? What could I have done differently? I made him the best meals I could, taking time for each and every ingredient to cook just right for him. I cuddled him and loved him all I could for years. I went everywhere with him. You don't just leave somebody you're so connected to like that. You don't just get sick one day and stoop eating. Just before the moment of his passing, I went to give him his lunch. As he took his last breath, I sat there helpless. Part of my soul, gone forever. One never forgets one's soul."

'My grandson and I went on a camping trip together. We ate, talked, and got wood for this winter. I enjoyed spending time with him, it was fun getting there, being there, and coming home.'

"Last month, just before school started I went on a camping trip. It was just me and one of my grandsons. He lives near by and wanted to have a last adventure before he started back to school. He is 14, and started high school a few weeks ago. We drove to the mountains and hiked another mile into the forest where we set up our camp. He set up the tent while I got a fire going. We brought tin foil dinners and cooked them in the fire that evening. We started to roast marshmallows just as it started raining. We retired to the tent where we talked and listened to the rain until we fell asleep. During the night we heard a bear nearby so that was exciting. In the morning we had bacon and powdered eggs and packed up camp. We hiked back to my truck, and stopped to get some firewood on the way home. I felt very happy to bond with him on this fun camping trip. We can't wait to do it again. It was something special I won't forget."

'Long time enemy become my life partner in single party. That is the short of this story. I feel so lucky for that moment for life time. I am blessed to have that wonderful day and life.'

"When I was growing up I could not stand dealing with this person. We really didn't get a long very well in school to the point that we had become rivals even though we were of opposite genders. We would go out of our ways to mess with each other and just do things to make the others life more difficult while we were going to school together. As we got older and popularity in high school mattered we would do things to mess with the other in that regard to. I felt like this rivalry between us would never end because he would always end up getting the better of me when it came to our little wars of words going back and forth. When I graduated from high school I figured that this rivalry would likely end because of everyone going their separate ways and low and behold this one did not. He was still in my life as we had some mutual friends and he would be at some of the same places that I was heading to. I felt like at this point it was best to really try to bury the hatchet with this guy. We had been feuding with each other since we were in elementary school so I really felt like it was time to just try to settle this and move on to something else to let us both go on with your lives like we are true adults. When I first attempted to do this he just kinda laughed and acted like there was no way this had any chance of ever happening. So I decided that this just wasn't going to happen at this point in time and just let it go. After that I didn't see him for a little while and wondered what had happened. I almost felt concerned because even though how we felt about each other I had known him for a long time and didn't want anything bad to happen. I finally saw him again about 4 months ago and I asked him where he had been. He explained that he had a few bad things come up in life that he had to take care of so he didn't really have time to go to parties and just hang out anymore. I felt like he was in a bad place so I asked him to dinner with me and he said ok. When we could just sit down and talk together we really hit it off with one another right away. I feel like this was truly a day that changed my life as today we are together and looking to get married. When we really got to know each other we realized that we were a perfect match and maybe the reason we didn't get a long all those years ago was because we were just to much alike so it caused friction between us. I am truly grateful that we got to sit down and realize that we we're meant to be together."

'My neighbor passed away about three months ago. I am still sad about it. I attended her funeral and met with her family.'

"My neighbor and I had always gotten along really well. For the most part, it really started when I moved to the neighborhood. I was cutting my grass on a really hot day and this little old woman walks over to me and hands me some fresh lemonade. I had really never seen much of this woman aside from her getting the main in the morning as I was leaving for work. A wave here and there. But upon giving me this lemonade, her and I struck up a conversation that lasted way longer than I had ever thought. We talked for hours about our past and even ended up knowing a lot of the same people which was super weird! From that moment her and I would sit on my patio after work and sometimes on the weekends and have drinks together. She would take care of my dogs when I would leave for vacations or traveling for work. She never asked for anything in return which was super nice. Over the years, I started doing more things for her as she got older. I would cut the grass for her. Trim the trees and bushes around her house. It eventually got the point where I would come home and bring in the mail from the end of the street for her since she struggled to get around. It was sad to see her advancing in age. A few years ago, her family moved her to a case facility so she could live in a place where she didnt need to worry about taking care of herself as much and would be there if she fell. We still hung out, but nearly as much as we had when she lived next door. Never losing touch of course, but just not as frequent as it had been in the past. I got a call a few months ago that she had passed and it really hit me hard. It was like losing a friend whom I'd known for a good portion of my life. I knew this day was coming, but its so tough to prepare yourself. You can prepare all you want, but when it finally happens, it really hit home. I know shes in a better place, but she will always have a special place in my heart."

'I am a much happier, wiser, safer, and more confident person after meeting him. I am glad that I met him and I would want to keep on meeting him in all of my future lifetimes.'

'You hear people tell you about how some significant event or person in their lives came along and changed everything. You hear of some fantastic revelation some day up on the mountain, or a close encounter with nature, even a brush with some insane disaster, bringing the person onto the doorstep of death. Most people quote extraordinary event that is very unique to them and hear about how that something have come to have a great impact on their lives, changing the very manner in which they view life and perceive it. You might not find my story to be anything spectacular, but for me, it has been the one most singularly amazing event of my life. It was the day that I met my husband. He came into my life and affected me in so many ways and for which I really do not have words to describe. Yet, I will try my best to portray how his coming into my life completely changed me and gave me a whole new world to look at. One of the things that I noticed immediately when I met my husband was how safe and secure he made me feel. I remember meeting him that very first day and realizing how good I felt just being with him. It was as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I suddenly felt free and relaxed, as if I had to worry about nothing in life ever again. He would be very supportive of my ideas and my decisions and would encourage me to go ahead and do what I wanted the most. He provided me with the background support that I had always needed to further to my plans but had felt so insecure before. He had a knack of making me laugh and feel good about myself and whatever was going on at that time. Aside from making me feel emotionally stable, safe, and secure, he also made me feel very secure financially. He made it look so easy, as if I would never have to worry about money ever again. He made me feel that I could trust him with no matter what. This is perhaps the reason that I married him in the first place, because of how he good he made me feel about myself: very safe, secure, and sound.'

"I have been in cancer remission and was told I reached the five year mark. This means I don't have to go to the doctor every three months. It means I beat the odds and may see my children grow."

"Five years ago I was treated for cancer. It was a grueling process and I came out of it a much changed person. Something like this really gives a person new perspective. It's been an emotional journey for me as well as for my loved ones. Well, two weeks ago I reached the five year mark! I have been in remission for five years now. This feels like such an accomplishment. Even though I haven't 'done' anything, I feel like a Badass! I have beaten this thing. I have beaten the odds. Of course the cancer can still return. But anyone can get cancer at any time. So, for the time being, I'm counting this a victory. No more check ups every three months. No more frequent reminders. No more results to fear. For now. I move forward. I live. I watch my children grow. Who knows... maybe I will even live to watch my grandchildren grow. I'm just like everyone else now. My future is uncertain, it's true. But so is everyone else's. And better an uncertain future than one in which cancer IS certain."

'I reunited with a woman I had met in the past and went out on a double date. The double date went well for us, but not for our friends. We have started a relationship since then that I hope lasts a long long time.'

'I have started a relationship with a someone I went out on a date with a few weeks ago. I actually knew her from high school, but it has been years since we have even seen each other at all. We went out on a double date with a couple of my friends and really hit it off immediately. We went to dinner in a quaint little Italian place here in my town. It was like we had never missed any time of knowing each other at all. ! It was really surprising how very much we still have in common, and how alike we are! She has the same exact dry sense of humor that I do and I really like that alot about her. She is also just as much fun as I remember her being in school. I am really thinking and hoping that this new relationship is going to develop into something that will last a long time, as I can really envision myself spending the rest of my life with her. She only lives in the next town over from me, which is maybe a 10 minute drive. I am very hopeful for this and the possibility. The friends who went on the double date with us did not hit if off nearly as great as we did. They were just very awkward and different. It was pretty painful to watch them trying to make small talk when my date and I just talked and laughed and had so so much fun. I am really happy about the way things went and are going. Wish me luck!!'

'I volunteered to the Animal Defense League. I enjoyed comforting the cats and dogs. I adopted a dog.'

'A month ago I started noticing I had a lot of free time on my hands. I had been playing a lot of video games. I decided to do something that would contribute to society. I considered volunteering at the homeless shelter but they wanted a bigger commitment than I could give. I had cats growing up so I decided helping out with the Animal Defense League would be a good use of my time. I was first drawn to the cats but the dogs started to grow on me. They were something new to me, having only grown up with cats. There was a particular golden shepard that I felt an instant connection with. He was 3 years old. Through my time at AFL I learned he was available for adoption. After short consideration I knew I was in a comfortable place to bring a dog into my home. I decided to adopt that golden shepard. I have named him Bruno. I have had a great month with him. I look forward to several more years together.'

"My daughter's first day away from home. My family and I drove her to her new school. We stopped at a Chinese restaurant and had lunch together after dropping her stuff off in her new apartment."

"My husband and I drove our daughter to her dorm for her first day at college. My husband borrowed his brother's pickup to be able to carry all her stuff. The dorm had a list of all the stuff that she needed to get. Of course, we bought everything on the list. So did the other three set of parents. The dorm was set in the mountains by the school. It was very pretty. The school was built there was beautiful as well. The dorms were sets of apartments that had two bedrooms each. Each bedroom had two roommates. The shared a living room, kitchen and a bathroom. They had a total of about 500 square feet in each apartment. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in town together. It was a lovely day even though our daughter left us for the first time. It was time for her to grow up and learn about being an adult."

"I came up with the realization that i can save money by making my own nicotine e-liquid versus buying it at the store. It is much cheaper. I'm also excited about taking it up as a hobby."

"4 weeks ago I found an article about making your own e-liquid. I been vaping for a while now. Vaping is very enjoyable to me. Vaping helps to calm me down during stressful time. It also relaxes me when im not stressed. Although I enjoy vaping, at times it can be expensive. I was amazed when I read the article about making your own. It seemed really simple to do. All the ingredients were cheap. Also all the ingredients were easy to obtain. I immediately saved the page and made the list. I proceeded to go to the store for the items. The ingredient list was simple and short. I was more shocked that the total cost was less than expected. I carefully followed the instructions and made a batch. I was surprised at how well it turned out. It ended up being better than expected. It was great to get the desired effects at a savings. I highly recommend this for anyone who vapes. It's a real cost savings."

"I was excited to plan and setup for my son's birthday party. It was going to have fun games and lots of food."

'Recently, my son had a birthday. We celebrated and I was in charge of doing the party. I was excited, as the party theme was to be Avengers. So I went to the party store and grabbed a bunch of supplies. I got streamers, balloons, favors, a few prize toys for some of the games. Once, I got home, I started working on preparing the food, just little snacks, to go with the pizza I was ordering. I also, went about decorating for the party. I put up the streamers. I blew up a ton of balloons, and hung them around the streamers. I put out the plates, cups, and utensils for the food. Then I made sure to designate a place for the presents that his friends would be bringing for him. All in all, everything was going great. All that was needed was the cake and the guests. This was going to be great. And I know my son will love all the games I have planned.'

'I bought a wedding dress this summer with my mom. We got to name the dress after my grandmother, and it was an emotional and exciting experience.'

"I bought my wedding dress two months ago! It was an amazing experience! When I was planning my wedding dress shopping trip, I invited my mom, sister, maid of honor, future mother-in-law, and future sister-in-law, because I wanted them to share in the experience. We made two appointments in a town near my home town for a Saturday, but there was one store that I wanted to visit that was about an hour away. So, my mom and I made a secret plan to visit the far away store, just to be sure that my dress wasn't there, but I thought that since it would be my first time trying on dresses, there would be no way that I would find my dress without the rest of my party! Well, I was wrong! My mom and I walked into the bridal salon, and while we were waiting for the bridal consultant, we both locked eyes on a dress at the same time. We decided that I should try on that dress first, because it was absolutely beautiful. When our bridal consultant came up to us, we picked a few other dresses that matched my style, but I tried on the original dress first. Even though it was beautiful, I wasn't sure if it was the one for me, so I kept trying on more. After about a dozen dresses, I tried on another dress that was exactly what I had pictured myself getting married in...but I couldn't stop thinking about the first dress! So, I tried on the first dress again, this time with a veil, and my mom and I both knew--that was the one. The best part of the story comes next, though! At this bridal salon, they allow the first bride who purchases a dress to give it a name (like a human name), and my dress had never been purchased before. So, I got to name my dress after my maternal grandmother, who died fourteen years ago, and who my mom and I miss very much. We both cried! Then, the next day, the rest of my initial wedding dress crew came back with me so they could see the dress. We all cried and drank champagne, and it was one the best experiences I've ever had!"

'To celebrate our anniversary, my wife and I went to the White Mountains for two nights without kids. During that time we had the opportunity to reflect on the past 10 years of our life and I came to realize how much I love the experiences we have had.'

'To celebrate our 10 year anniversary my wife and I travelled to the White Mountains. The white mountains hold a special place in our hearts and I have fond memories of going to the shops and restaurants there when we were out of college. My wife and I stayed at the the white mountain resort where we were able to finally have a break from our wonderful three children. We realized during our trip just how easy it is for us to get bogged down by the day to day reality of raising kids. It was a good event for us and I hope to do something similar every year from here on out. There is something about revisiting past locations that brings up emotion and memory. Two events stick out in my mind. One, on our first evening we went out to the Moat brew pub and had a great dinner. I have vivid memories of being out from college and eating the cheapest meals available. The other event that stuck out was the evening we spent on the deck of the resort having evening cocktails and just being together. I think when we do this again next year I would go back. The one thing I would change is our reliance on our phones. I think next year the rule will be that we turn them off and rely on our own two heads to get around. I want to have the time to get away from it all but I want to do it with her. A great memory!'

'My wife delivered our twin baby girls. One of the twins needed to be taken to the intensive care. Thankfully she recovered and we were able go home as a complete family.'

'Dear Diary,It\'s hard to believe, but Jessica and Joanna are now officially six months old! Although every single day is a milestone from where we started this I\'ll never stop taking steps each day. I remember the events of that day above all others in my life and won\'t forget it any time soon. Jessica came first into the world "SIX POUNDS THREE OUNCES!" I remember the doctor yelling as everyone oohed and awed and for a moment that was the happiest moment of my life. However life has a strange way of throwing us for a loop at the worst times...sometimes before we even get a chance to know it. Next was Joanna and you wouldn\'t believe how the excitement grew as we waited. It was almost like a movie with how silent everything went when I saw the doctors face change. A look of shock and terror quickly infected the rooms before they whisked her away without explanation. It was in actuality only ten minutes before we heard from anyone who knew what was going on, but it felt like hours. "Joanna has a problem with her lungs. It will take some time, but we are confident we will be able to take care of her" the doctors reassured us. We knew it was going to be a long road ahead of us. A lot of tears and bad days mixed in with a couple of good, but we knew we had to pull ourselves through for these beautiful blessings we had been given in life. Today will go down as the greatest day of my life. Today is the day we finally get to go home with our daughters!'

"My sister moved out of the country for a new job. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer a little over a year ago and after an exploratory surgery they decided that they couldn't safely remove the entire tumor, but also that it was a less serious form than they had initially believed."

"Sleeping in surgical waiting rooms is the worst. I mean, I never met a medical waiting room I liked, but at least in a doctor's office or the emergency room, there are other people, things happening, a sense of progress. Surgical waiting rooms are separate, special, and if you're in one in the middle of the night it's just your group, alone, waiting for news. It makes funerals feel good. With my sister's brain cancer in some ways, it's a little bit like we never got to leave that room. The outcome of her surgery wasn't bad. It turned out that her cancer was much less aggressive and serious than they originally believed. It wasn't good either, though. The tumor was in a dangerous spot, and they couldn't safely remove it. So we're back to normal now, and for the most part, everything is great, but in some sense, we're still just waiting. This has all been much worse for Sarah, of course, so I completely understand that she's been determined not to let this whole thing dictate how she lives. More than that, maybe. I'm not sure she isn't to some degree making decisions just to prove that she isn't letting herself be limited. That's a little scary, the idea that just maybe her choices are based more on pushing her boundaries rather than doing what's really best for her. She's excited about her new job, though, and I'm certainly not going to try to tell her she shouldn't take it. There are great doctors in Amsterdam, too, and she seems confident that she's got the insurance all figured out. There isn't even really anything I can do to show support, other than congratulating her and wishing her luck. I'll just hope and worry, and keep it to myself."

'A feral dog with our animal rescue named Elsa passed away today. Her life was so impactful that it brought a whole group of people together and turned us into a family.'

"Here we are a group of people. We all barely speak. We all go about our business. The one thing we have in common is we all work at the same place. We work with animals. One day we get this feral dog named Elsa. Everyone loved Elsa. We were very intrigued by her actions and loved her very much. About a week ago Elsa passed away. We were all very devastated. We were all very hurt and brought to tears. We all thought we could save Elsa. Everyone here tried hard to take care of her. Everyone here tried to teach her and feed her. All in all Elsa's death was not very good but it did one good thing. It turned our group of people into a family. We miss you Elsa."

'I got invited to go to Disneyland for the first time in my life. It was day like no other at the happiest place on earth.'

"I had a memorable day earlier this year that i would never forget. It was my sisters birthday. I got invited to go to Disneyland with her and some other family members. I was excited but i also didn't know what to expect. The trip getting there was not too bad. Only about an hour from where i lived. It was a maze just getting from the parking lot to the ticket booth. There was tram for every part of the park which was nice. The prices were crazy but i was just glad i was not the one paying for it. I went in with low expectations but all of that changed shortly afterwards. I got in on several rides to start and was blown away. It was like being in an entire different world. The only thing i did not like were the large crowds. I had lunch afterwards. The food was great but the prices were not. Got on some more rides afterwards until i could not no more. I took some picture while i was there so i could later recall the memorable day i had. I can see why they call it the happiest place eon earth."

"Almost 5 months ago, our company let us know that in two month's time, we will be losing our jobs. Our job hunt involved an emotional roller coaster of confidence and self defeat. I also spent a lot of time mourning severed relationships between me and my colleagues."

'I had been working for the same company for 17 years as an accounts receivable supervisor. I supervised a staff of 6 associates. In the first week of May, our company let us know that they will be shutting our department down and we will all be losing our jobs. The next couple months were stressful and sad for us. On one hand, there was the fear of not being able to find a job after our end date materialized. On the other hand, we had all worked with each other for over a decade and knew that our time together was coming to an end. These past few months will definitely leave a mark on my life. The emotional roller coaster I felt on a daily basis is something I have never experienced before. One day I would feel confident and think that my life was meant to take this turn. The very next day I would feel defeated and incompetent with unreasonable expectations for myself. I would come into work as our end date approached and feel sad every time I had a laugh or a meaningful conversation with a colleague. It would make me feel awful that I would not be seeing these people again. Unfortunately, it also showed me that some people who you think are very close to you are really not honest people in your life who care for you the way you care for them. I saw this in my manager. She did not bother to speak to a single one of us in the last month we were employed. Not so much as a "goodbye" or "good job" or simply "nice knowing you". it really hurt me that she would treat the staff that way. I expected more from her. All in all, it was a humbling experience. I try to look forward on my new life now.'

"It happened in an auditorium and I wasn't sure in what order events was going to happen. It was hot and crowded."

"My daughters graduation was in a city that I was not familiar with in an auditorium. I didn't know what to expect when I got there or how the events would unfold. It was very hot and I felt sweaty. the auditorium was crowded. I felt uncomfortable. I was watching what others were doing so I could see what i should be doing as well. I knew this was going to be an all day event that wouldn't finish until evening time. It started about 10 am on a Saturday. It started with awards given out to students. There was a slide show of activities that kids did during the year. There was a luncheon so kids and parents could mingle and talk. In the afternoon they gave out diplomas and afterwards everyone went outside. There was activities with lots of drink stations to keep everyone hydrated. By evening it felt calmer. I was feeling relieved."

'A large group of friends got together for a part and barbecue at a friends house. We were able to all be together on the same day which is a rare occasion.'

'A friends birthday party a month ago. It was a big get together with a bunch of friends. We met at one of their houses and had the party in their backyard. It was a standard barbecue in the afternoon next to their pool. One person cooked on the grill, cooking hamburgers, sausage and hot dogs. Then the rest of us brought something, macaroni salad potato salad. Some people brought chips and others brought soda, water, beer and wine coolers. There were a few bottles of vodka and rum as well. One friend wanted to experiment and brought a lot of different things so that they could make mix drinks. They mainly made mojitos since that is what they like the most. I made a few desserts a cheesecake and a strawberry short cake. We mainly spent most of the time talking and catching up and playing card games or a board game. A few people went swimming. It was most memorable because it was the first time in a while that we were all together. All of our schedules are a bit all over so it is very rare that everyone can be together at the same time.'

'A month and two weeks ago, I was promoted to the position of a Senior Developer for my diligence to work, and the ability to put in my best even under pressure from home. I never expected the promotion, but I am happy it happened the way it did.'

"Six weeks ago, I got the best news! Because of my hard work and diligence, I was getting a promotion. I honestly wasn't expecting it, because I had been under a lot of pressure at home. My mother became sick, and moved in with our family. At the same time, I discovered my husband was having an affair. He announced he wanted a divorce. I thought that I might just break down and crack. Instead, I put my best efforts into my job. I'm so excited that it paid off. My boss said that he was impressed with everything I've done. I just started my new role as a Senior Developer. I love my new team and my new coworkers. I'm looking forward to a great future here. I'm glad that I'll also have more resources to take care of my mother. My husband can enjoy his new life of poverty without my nice paycheck."

'My friends and I drove to Croatia for a music festival, ended up getting lost then being able to ride with a celebrity in there car.'

'June of this year my friends and I decided to road trip from Munich Germany to Croatia. My friends and I had tickets to ultra music fest and decided that a road trip would be the most fun way to go. The ride should have lasted about 9/10 hours give or take. We left the hotel in Germany at around 6 in the morning, we didnt want to drive to late at night because we would have been tired. We were on the road for about 5 hours when the car we were in experienced a flat tire. Luckily for my friends and I we all know how to change a tire so we got out the car and went to change the tire but there was no extra tire. We were stuck with no service in the middle of no where. We tried calling the rental car company and tried calling for help but there was no connection. My friends and I decided to walk back about 4 miles to where we saw a gas station to call for help. About an hour later we were at the gas station but there was no one there, and we still had no phone service. We decided to stay at the gas station for some time hoping that someone would show up. 4 hours later with no service and still waiting for help we decided to walk back to the car. 30 minutes after walking towards the car we saw a huge van start to head towards us, we jumped up and down for help and the van stopped and a musician who was playing at the same venue we were going to got out the van with his security. My friends and I explained the situation and they gave us a ride to the venue and backstage passes it was amazing. Before we got to the venue we were able to call the rental car company and they tracked the car to pick it up and return it to us. The celebrity and my friends and i ended up hanging out all weekend, and becoming great friends. My friends and I were shocked and it was considered the best weekend ever.'

"I won my first amateur boxing match in Wisconsin. I whupped the other guy's ass pretty bad. It was great."

"I like the idea of fighting for myself. I had always grown up in the fighting world. I just think there was something primal and satisfying about it. I recently have been trying my hand at boxing. I felt comfortable enough with the training I had received that I could succeed. I worked my butt off, not just because I wanted to win, but it was fun. Now, I don't want anyone to get seriously hurt or concussed or any of that. But about a month ago I had my first boxing match. It was against another amateur. This was in Wisconsin. The fight barely started before he would up on the floor from a perfectly placed uppercut. He went down like a sack of potatoes. When the ten count ended I raised my arms in the air like I was Rocky and felt like the training I was in was paying off. It was an incredible moment. I can't wait to do it again."

'An enjoying day at the Aquarium during the summer. Fun for both me, my family, especially my nieces. First visit to the aquarium for them.'

'Went and rented a van that could fit 10 people. Picked up my brother, sister in law, his 2 daughters, my mother, sister, and wife. We all went to Boston to the New england aquarium. Dropped everyone off. Then went and parked. Met up with everyone and went inside. Spent a fun filled 3 hrs there. My nieces had a great time. Really got to enjoy everything the place had to offer. There was no rushing, everyone waited for everyone to get their fill before moving on. I had an amazing time. I love fish and over sized aquariums. I have been a half a dozen times. Most of my enjoyment came from watching them experience it for the first time. Well worth the time and money.'

'My daughter biggest day was a big disappointment. I had prepared for this day my whole life but I forgot the most important thing the day of her graduation.'

"So I was hanging out with my friends at the movies. It was fun. We watched an action movie and it was just great. I loved it so fun. We had so much fun. It was just great. I don't know. When we were watching it we had popcorn. They tasted so good. It was such a nice experience. We loved it so much. At one part of the movie something scary was happening and I had to shut my eyes, because I didn't want to see it. The ghost in the movies was so scary and I didn't want to see it. So I closed my eyes. I'm pretty sure my friends closed their eyes too. It was just weird to see. I don't know why it was scary but it just was."

'A few months ago, my mom suffered a stroke. The initial hospital visit was heartbreaking and difficult, however she seems to have made amazing progress and we can now say she survived it.'

"Dear Diary,It's been 4 months now since mom had her stroke. I still can't believe it at times that this happened. She was so healthy before this, no warning signs, no symptoms.. it was shocking to everyone. I found her in her room one day after school. She was on the ground and having trouble speaking. I called 911 and they arrived quickly. I'm not sure if she would've made it if they hadn't. She spent 3 weeks in the hospital. It was a really rough time for us both. I stayed with her almost every night. I was really scared, and couldn't leave her side. I'm happy to say, she's doing much better now. She is back to living on her own. She's taking physical therapy for some of the movement she lost in her arm, but otherwise she's good as new. She survived! I am still scared that this could happen again. I've been helping her stay active and eating well, hopefully I'll never have to go through this again."

"In my cousin's wedding, we enjoy to prepare and celebrate that function. We are make a lots of fun in that function with my friends in that before night."

'A celebration in a family gives pleasure to all the Members of the family. Friends and relatives also attend the occasion and share the pleasure. Pleasure multiplies when there is a wedding in the family. I drew immense pleasure when the marriage ceremony of my cousin was held. It was performed on 23rd of the last month. There was a great excitement and joy among us to see the preparations for the wedding celebration in our family. Decorations were made on the day before the marriage ceremony. A shrine was prepared for the celebration. It was also decorated with paper flowers. The canopy above the shrine was made of colored cloths. Another big canopy was put up in the open ground in front of our house. An electrician with his four assistants decorated the closed space with a number of multi-colored electric lamps. My father and uncle stood at the gate to receive the guests. The marriage party arrived at-seven in the evening. First, the guests were served sweets and cold drinks. Many guests had brought different gifts for my cousin who was the bride. The marriage party members were very gentle. The groom was seated on a palanquin with thick garlands around his neck. The marriage ceremony was held after the reception. Many senior members including my parents and the parents of the groom were present at the time of the holy marriage on the shrine. The bride and the groom exchanged garlands and sacredly accepted each other as the partner of life. We cried when my cousin parted with us and went to her new house.'

'Earlier this year I traveled from America to London, England. It was my first time out of the country and I was meeting a friend. We had a great time together and I enjoyed my first trip outside my home country!'

"I have always wanted to travel in my life. I didn't have the chance to really until just recently. About four months ago I took the plunge. I decided to visit a friend who I had known for a while and felt comfortable flying across the Atlantic for. I traveled from the US all the way to London, England. Traveling this distance was a bit nerve-wracking, but at no point did the nerves outweigh the excitement I had for this event. I seriously just was so excited and I couldn't imagine backing out now. After a lengthy flight, I met the friend and even though I had nerves meeting them too, I was still really excited to hang out with them. I wanted to hang out with them for a long time. I just couldn't believe it was happening. When we met, it was exciting and fresh and new. I couldn't believe I was so fortunate to be in the position that I was in. I got to see all of the sights, experience the food, and just spend some time in a culture that is different than mine. I encourage everyone to go through this if they can. It's an experience not soon forgotten."

"Over the summer, I took my infant son to his first swim lesson. It was a very positive experience and he didn't cry at all."

"About four months ago, I took my son to his first swimming lesson. My son was about six months old at the time, so this was really his first introduction to pools or any sort of water outside of the bath. He was very receptive to the whole experience. He didn't cry, and was more interested in observing the other kids in the pool. I was surprised at how observant he was. The fact that he was simply taking in the whole experience was wonderful. It was suggested that I briefly put his face in the water, and to my surprise, he seemed to enjoy it! This was a very special experience for me because I remember going to pools and swimming in creeks and lakes when I was a kid. I'm glad that he was okay being almost entirely submerged in the water. This was one event that I was really looking forward to before he was born. Since he was born in December, I was worried that he might not be old enough to do swim lessons this past summer. But I'm very glad that we didn't have to wait until next year. I felt like he really relied on me in that pool. Up until that time, my wife was always there to help me with parenting if I run into trouble. This was my first real time being the primary parent. All in all, it was a very positive experience and I'm glad I got to be the one to introduce him to the swimming pool."

'In an ideal world, there would be infinite computing resources. These resources would be free and sustainable, with no impact on the future of our planet. They would run services that would be accessible'

'3 weeks ago I had the most frustrating experience! It has taken me that long to be able to write about it. I was sitting at my computer working on my company\'s facebook page when I received this totally unexpected message on my screen from my internet provider. It said, "You have exceeded your allowed data usage and internet usage time for the month. No further internet usage will be allowed on this account." I was stunned! Since when did our company have a cap on internet usage or data?? I tried to check our usage manually, but I could not log on at all. I tried from my phone and received this message from my cell phone carrier, "Due to the increasing negative impacts placed on our environment from the increased building of responder towers, we are limiting our service to specific areas of high population bases. Please check the list below for your area." I have spent the last three weeks beginning to coordinate with people in high positions regarding creating free and sustainable computing options. These options would not harm the environment or pose a threat to animal populations. All would be free and unlimited. I can not go into detail here as I am not the most popular person right now. In fact, many internet providers and cell phone giants see me as a big threat to their bottom line. but just think, what that would mean for the common person?? Free service and free computing power. Never have to buy a new computer again, it would just automatically update! No high service bills either! Unlimited everything!'

"It was a table tennis tournament. I beat higher rating player and he was a cry baby about it. Couldn't loose like a man with class and character. Felt really good to tease him afterwards."

"I was at this table tennis tournament. My rating was around 1750 so I didn't have much chances against other 2k players. There was this one asian guy Albert with rating over 100 points bigger than mine. He wanted to warm up first... after regulatory 2 minutes of warm up I asked him is he ready. He said he is not, so we continued to warm up. After five minutes, I just started smashing because I wanted the warm up to be over - I was sweating and really tired already. Then he said he was ready. I beat him 3-1 ! It was amazing, I gained over 30 points out of him. I went to him to shake his hand and he was very rude - he said I didn't give him enough time to warm up. I felt soooo good by telling him how it's not my responsibility to warm him up and that with his rating he should beat me easily without warming up. I told him I will enjoy taking his rating points. He then said it's un-sportsmanship conduct and I explained to him that by table tennis regulations there should be only 2 minutes of warm up and I gave him 5.It was pure luck than after round robin ended, I was supposed to play against Albert AGAIN in 1/8th. He refused to play with me ! He was so afraid he will loose more rating points, he didn't want a rematch. What a cry baby I said... I went up to him and I said - come on Albert... nobody likes cry babies. Don't be a coward and come play. All players were laughing but he still refused to play. Really good day ! ;)"

'I had to take a licensing exam for my profession it took many hours to actually do the exam and even more time to study for it. Taking the test was very stressful and difficult. After I was done with the exam I was very happy to be done.'

"Man I was really studying hard for that exam I had to take a month ago. It was super important for my profession. I took me way too many hours to do the exam. I felt like I was literally there all day. Don't even get me started on how long it took me to actually study for it. That took literal days if not weeks. I felt like a slave to my books and quizzes. Man I never want to have to go through that again. I can't even begin to describe how much stress I was under. The level of mental strength it took to get through this was something I don't know if I can summon again, that's how hard it was. I have never felt more relief than when it was all over. I didn't even care at that moment what my score was. I was just so happy that it was done and I didn't have to think about it anymore. I literally felt drained. A mental husk of what I used to be, sapped of everything that made me well me. Literally I felt like a brain zombie, nothing left over. What a struggle, I tell ya."

"We had an opportunity to move south, something we'd both dreamed of. We just didn't realize how much it would cost us in the end, both financially and emotionally."

'My whole life I\'ve felt a pull towards the south and about 3 months ago I was finally given an opportunity to move there with my wife. My job offered me a higher paying position in Texas and my wife had just been laid off her job, so we figured "Let\'s do it!". We were both pretty excited about the move and I knew I could make back the cost of moving with only two or three months of work in Texas. An agent found us a beautiful home, we sent our belongings out ahead by moving truck, and my wife and I packed a few items in a Uhaul to make a road trip out of it. Our spirits were high and it was almost like a fun getaway driving to our new life. We didn\'t recognize the first signs of trouble, but they were there, literally. As we entered the State, Trump signs began spotting the roadsides with sayings like Build the Wall, Muslims Go Home, Lock Her Up and Trump Will Make Us Great Again. We saw them and didn\'t think twice about it because we were so happy and focused on enjoying our road trip. The sun was setting as we drove up to our new home and the house looked exactly like it did in the online pics, except for the 6 or 7 signs sprinkled across our new lawn. There were lawn signs that said things like Build The Wall - Make America Safe Again, No Illegals - Lock Them Up, etc. We didn\'t know whether they were a welcome to the neighborhood gift or a warning to go home. I looked over at my hispanic wife with concern and she began crying. "We can\'t live here" she said. I held her while she cried and then got out of the car and ripped all the signs from our lawn, tossing them over the fence into our new backyard. I wasn\'t going to let this ruing our plans for the future. We were moving to the south and it would be ok. My wife and I left all our belongings in the car, walked to our front door and went in our new home. As we entered the house I turned and locked the door behind us, it suddenly hit me that I didn\'t feel safe here. I told my wife she better use the bathroom because we had a long drive home.'