Today, as I gently kissed my best friend, Kate, on the forehead and rubbed my hand over her bald scalp, she said, “Gosh, I wish love like this was powerful enough to cure me.” MMT

Today, it’s been 20 years since my mom quit smoking cigarettes so she could “grow old” with my dad. But my dad died of lung cancer from secondhand smoke 10 years ago. MMT

Today, one of my close friends in class was checked into a psychiatric hospital for severe depression. He always listened to me complain about my problems and often asked me how I was feeling. But I never realized he was upset, so I never asked him how he was feeling. He just seemed like he had it all figured out. MMT

Today, as I found myself in the arms of my best friend’s widow, crying together, she said, “Every ending is also a new beginning. I know that we usually don't realize it at the time, but I’m trying.” MMT

Today, her suicide note mentioned my name 28 times. MMT

Today, when I told her that wounds you can't see are the hardest wounds to heal, she showed me the scar on her back that her father gave her with his belt last year. MMT

Today, as I sat beside my 86-year-old mother while he rested in the hospice bed, she looked at me with small tears in her eyes and said, “The years really flew by. I wish I hadn’t taken so many of them for granted.” MMT

Today, the teacher who singlehandedly saved my life by gradually coaching me through my depression over the last 4 years, plead guilty in court to assault and battery of his wife. MMT

Today, when I kissed my mom goodbye before she left for work, I had no idea there would never be a hello. MMT

Today, my 14 year-old cat sits outside in the backyard for at least a few hours every morning in the exact spot where I buried my other cat that passed away 6 months ago. Both of my cats were siblings. MMT

Today, I stayed up all night reading MMT stories just to avoid having to sleep in our cold king size bed without her for the first time in 46 years. MMT

Today, like he does at least once a week, my husband brought a bouquet of flowers to his mother’s grave. She’s been gone for ten years now. He rarely visited her during the five years I knew him before she passed. He admitted to me yesterday that not visiting her is the biggest regret of his life. MMT

Today, I thought about the bruises on my cheek and how I lied to my little sister by saying I fell. I can still see the look of disappointment in her eyes when she said, "You're lying! I saw him hit you, and I know that's not diamonds he gave you in that bag either. It's drugs. That's why you look thin!" She's only 12 years old and I'm 17. MMT

Today, my twin brother is overseas in the Marines. He’s assisting with helping the Iraqi security forces regain full control of their country. Although I don’t know the details of his mission, I know that within two weeks of deployment he spent several days in the hospital. I just received a letter from him that he sent from the hospital that basically says, “I’m proud to be walking in Tom’s footsteps.” Tom is our older brother who died in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. MMT

Today, as I was sitting in the emergency room waiting area crying with my 4-year-old son, an hour after being told that my wife’s internal bleeding could not be stopped, a little girl no older than 7, walked up to us and handed us a little flowers she had picked outside. She said, “My dad isn’t doing well either, but my mom says we have to keep smiling for each other.” MMT

Today, I’m the friend with a strong smile who everyone comes to when they need some reassurance and a shoulder to cry on. But I’m still waiting for one of them to look beyond my forced smile and ask me, “How are you doing?” MMT

Today, my father had a heart attack just after my mom took her last breath at the hospital. Now I’m here hoping he’ll make a full recovery. MMT

Today, I miss him. I miss him like I do every other day. I look at pictures and replay memories in my mind. I never thought I'd have to miss him and everything we had like this. It never crossed my mind. The fact that I never told him how much I loved him when I had the chance MMT.

Today, as my younger brother sat with my mom in her hospice bed (she is dying from breast cancer) my mom noticed that my brother was rubbing his cheek every time she kissed his cheek. She asked him, “Why are you wiping off my kisses?” He said, “I’m not! I’m rubbing them in so I can keep them with me after you go to heaven.” MMT

Today, on vacation in Florida, a bum approached me while I stood outside my hotel room door. I was honestly scared of what he might do, so I went inside and shut the door in his face. A while later, there was ambulance outside. He had knocked on the next to mine for help; it turned out he was suffering from seizures and needed someone to call 911. MMT