Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

My heart really goes out to all of the women on this board. It's amazing to realize how much you have been through and still such strong, wonderful women!!

I have always considered myself to be so strong but after reading the posts above....

Without going into detail:
- Growing up in an extremely dysfunctional household overcome by alcoholism
- Missing my senior year of high school due to a car accident
- Losing my father at the age of 18 to Lung Cancer, he was only 51 :(
- Getting slammed by an 18 wheeler on the NJ Turnpike and having knee surgery, being disabled for 4 years
- DH finding out that he has an illness which is 100% fatal without treatment and now living on a daily basis with only 40% use of his lungs, at rest.

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

the loss of my sister when I was 6 years old and then my mom dying suddenly 6 months ago....I don't now how my dad is still breathing sometimes

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

Divorced from an emotional abusive person probably made me who I am now.

Having a child with special needs has pushed even further the "normal" limits of parenting. I had/have to overcome and dig VERY deep for patience and hard work.

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

I had tears in my eyes after reading so many of these posts. I am amazed at how much some of you have gone through.

I never thought of myself as strong growing up but when my daughter was suddenly diagnosed with severe Indeterminate Colitis at age 3 I became a totally different person.
Having spent over 60 days in the hospital with her and never leaving her side. Having to watch while she screamed in pain for hours/days from the disease and there was nothing I could do to help her.
Then ultimately making the biggest decision of our lives, having her colon removed. It was a 4 hour surgery and we knew at the end of it our little baby would have an ileostomy for the rest of her life and our lives would never be the same again.
Those were the toughest days of my life but because of it the relationship I have with my dh has grown so much stronger. I learned so much about myself and my family in just those two months.

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

Having my first dd the way I did. It was completely traumatic and without my dh I don't know how I would've gotten through it. I was lucky that no permanent damage was down, and I was able to have my second dd.

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

Posted by Tilde

Posted by Annie91606



Many nights when I put my 1 and 3 year old boys to bed, I trace my fingers over both of their perfect ears, and whisper "Thank you G-d"..

This is so beautiful

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

I can't fathom what some people on this thread have been through.

Many, many to those who've struggled in such terrible ways.

I'll add my dad's sudden death when I was 15 and my divorce. However, I go back and forth as to whether they've made me stronger or just more vulnerable.

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

Infertility, 3 m/c's and having to accept I was never going to be a Mother.

Beating breast cancer last year, at 42.

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

Grew up very poor, my mother's azz-hole boyfriend abused all us kids, my father disowned me because he wanted nothing to do with me (that always felt great), my mother died when i was 14 when i was already rising my 2 year old brother from birth because we were so poor she had to work everyday and we had no daycare, after she died i relocated to Maine from Texas and then 2 years later my azz-hole father died ( found out in the newspaper). In 2005 my longtime BF and broke up, who i thought i would be with and marry BUT if that hadn't happened, i wouldn't have met DH on match.com. In 2008, my husband has an affir with my one my "supposed" friends which knowcked me into relality that DH and weren't where we were when we married (lots of counseling and hard work and 3 years later we are great), then in 2009 the birth of my duaghter almost killed me due to a hospital error that left me in ICU for a few days and spending the first 2 weeks home with my 1st born attached to an IV that was inserted through my arm next to my heart, that was tough and very scary and makes me appreciate my life and my family every day!

Hard life but it made me who i am today, if i still lived with my mother i probably would have never went to college and ended up pregnant and in the same situation she was in so im thankful i had family to take us all is after she died.

*Edited for all my spelling errors

Message edited 6/27/2011 3:11:24 PM.

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

It really is amazing to see what some women have been through, and how far they've come

For me, it's a few things:

When my father got sick from diabetes and my whole family basically abandoned me to take care of him. He was my best friend, so, by the same token it was the most special time of our relationship, to spend so much time together. But, when he eventually passed away, it was crushing

Infertility definitely made a dent in me. Enough said...

Enduring a 3 year emotionally and physically abusive relationship

When two men broke into my house when I was home alone, and 17 years old. I managed to get out, but it was one of the scariest moments of my life.

And most recently, when a man tried to attack me while I was running outside one evening in December. It was scary as hell, but also beyond empowering to find my own strength to fight him off...

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

The hardest thing I have had to go through was DH (then my BF) being deployed. He was in the Marines and he deployed twice to Iraq. His first deployment was horrible - there were weeks/months that I didn't hear a word from him. Dealing with his mother during the deployment only made it that much worse - she was downright cruel to me

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

Posted by BunnyWife
I don't now how my dad is still breathing sometimes

Re: What are some things you have been through that have made you stronger?

Going through a divorce, right now