Today, when I told her that my mother smothers me, she told me she wishes she had a chance to meet hers. But her mother’s life ended the moment hers began. MMT

Today, I asked a Middle Eastern man sitting in the waiting room, “What’s your ethnic background?” He said, “American.” I said, “Yeah, but where are you from?” and he replied, “I’ve lived right down the street since I was three years old. I’m from here.” MMT

Today, at my best friend’s wedding, as I watched her kiss her husband I couldn’t help but wonder how our lives would have turned out if I had chose her over my career three years ago after we kissed for the first and last time right before I moved to New York for work. I do miss her and I know I missed out. MMT

Today, I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I’m working on for my Psychology class. When I asked her to define success in her own words, she said, “Success is when you look back at your life and the memories make you smile.” MMT

Today, the pretty girl from the gym with the perfect figure, whom I’ve aspired to be for the last two years, told me she’s been struggling with anorexia and other eating disorders for the last ten years. MMT

Today, my blind friend explained to me in vivid detail how beautiful his new girlfriend is. MMT

Today, my son said, “Mommy, I know you’re upset about losing your job, but I get to see you now as soon as I get home from school. And I really like that.” MMT

Today, I asked him to describe what it means to be in love. He simply smiled at me and said nothing. So I asked again and he replied, “All that comes to mind is the way you snuggle against me while you sleep, and there are no words to accurately describe the way that makes me feel.” MMT

Today, after losing our 3400 sq ft house to foreclosure last year due to both my parents losing their jobs within 2 weeks of each other, our family of 5 now shares a 1400 sq ft, 3 bedroom apartment. But since we have less money to go out, we spend more quality time together than we have for as long as I can remember. MMT

Today, as I packed up all my things in preparation to move across the country for college, I took down the poster that covered the whole I punched in the wall four years ago on the night you died. MMT

Today, as I was boarding a plane across the country on my way to attend my grandfather’s funeral, I realized I never went out of my way to see him when he lived right down the street. MMT

Today, I realized my 12-year-old son has lost weight recently, but I haven’t noticed any change in his eating habits or physical activity level. So I asked him about it and he said, “Oh yeah, I’ve been sharing half my lunch with Gordon, a homeless man that sleeps on a bench near my school's bus stop.” MMT

Today, negative 70 pounds later, and for the first time since we were little kids, I can fit into my sister’s jeans. MMT

Today, my brother who has been legally blind since he was born underwent a special surgery which partially restored his vision. And as he squinted at my mother for the first time with his new eyes, he said, “You’re just as beautiful as I have dreamed you were for the last 19 years.” MMT

Today, my parents are two of the biggest homophobes I know. And I’m 16 and I’m gay. But they don’t know it yet. MMT

Today, nearly a full month after my husband died in a car accident, I started working again. I went into my home office, opened my work laptop and found a sticky note from my husband stuck to the screen. It was dated the day he died, and it read, “You look beautiful today, honey. Let’s make today a good one!” MMT

Today, a week after we celebrated my pregnancy, I noticed my husband hasn’t been smoking. He never mentioned a thing to me about quitting, so I asked him, “When did you finally decide to quit smoking?” He put his hand on my tummy and said, “When I realized I didn’t want to miss a thing.” MMT

Today, I finally met my 8-year-old son’s new best friend from school, Kyle. For the last month, all I’ve heard about is how wonderful he is, and how they did this together and laughed about that. When I met Kyle this afternoon, I immediately realized he was missing an arm. But my son never once mentioned it. MMT

Today, after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, with tears in his eyes after a long moment of silence, he quietly said, “I just hope I’m around long enough for my daughter to remember me.” MMT

Today, approximately an hour before she pulled the trigger, she wrote the final entry in her diary. It simply said, “I wish I was white.” MMT