Today, it’s been a week since my friend, Kate, shaved her head. She told me she was going to do it to rebel against her mom who completely ignores her existence. “My mom doesn’t seem to notice that I’m struggling at school. She doesn’t care about anything I do. But she is obsessed with superficial looks. She will freak out about this,” Kate told me. Sadly, her mom hasn’t mentioned a thing. MMT

Today, I found my sister dead in her computer chair. She overdosed on prescription pain killers. My parents think it was an accident. The autopsy won’t be available for a week. But I know it wasn’t an accident. Her computer was on when I found her, and Firefox was loaded on this website’s ‘Submit your story’ page. “Today, is goodbye…” was entered into the form with the cursor still blinking. MMT

Today, I called my girlfriend as she was on her way home from work. About one second after she answered her phone, before she even had a chance to say “hello,” she crashed her car into the back of an F-350 pick-up truck. She’s currently in intensive care at the hospital. The police report says it was a classic case of a driver being distracted by a cell phone. MMT

Today, my dad died of a massive heart attack in his sleep in the middle of the night while he was lying next to my mom. She didn’t realize this until 7AM this morning when she woke up next to him. MMT

Today, I walked past a colleagues’ office who works on the opposite side of our enormous Lockheed Martin facility. In the past, I noticed he always updated the chalkboard that hangs on his office door with how many weeks are left until his son returns from Afghanistan. Today it says, "R.I.P. Kyle. 1985-2011." MMT

Today, I went with my granddaughter in-law to visit my grandson's grave. She sat down by his grave and talked to him like he was sitting there with us. She told me she does this every day. When I got home, I cried for two hours straight. MMT

Today, I met a 54-year-old woman in Montego Bay spreading ashes from a urn onto the beach. As we watched the sunrise together, she told me that after her husband died in a car accident last month she took 3 months off of work to travel and spread her husbands ashes in all 10 countries they had planned to visit as soon as they retired next year. MMT

Today, she left her suicide note on my Facebook wall. It said, “I miss you. I miss how your face used to light up when our eyes met. I miss the sweet things you used to say to me. I miss your 'good morning' texts. I wish you were still mine. I DIED YESTERDAY when you proposed to her.” MMT

Today, a friend of mine was admitted to a medical treatment center because of bulimia. I've been jealous of her weight for as long as I can remember. And I've always told her how great she looks. MMT

Today, I built a sandcastle in honor of my friend who died running a marathon in Virginia Beach. Yesterday, we joked on the phone about how he was going to have to run on the sand, and he said, "If I don't make it, just meet me where I collapse and we'll build a sandcastle together." I wish he could have helped me. MMT

Today, I asked one of my students, "What are these scars from?" "They're my battle wounds", he said. "And who were you battling?" I asked. "Myself," he said. MMT

Today, I miss him more than words can explain. But whenever these feelings creep up inside me I am reminded of the reasons why we don't speak anymore. Letting this pain go is so hard. I wish we could erase that night from history so we could be friends again. MMT

Today, I realized that if we all had told her how we felt BEFORE the funeral instead of AT the funeral, it's possible there wouldn't BE a funeral. MMT

Today, I divorced her. I did so after years of her infidelity. My two little daughters (7 and 8) are the reason it took me so long to do it. I really wanted to make the marriage work for them. But I couldn’t stand it any longer. And what kills me the most is that my daughters “hate me” for “leaving their mommy.” MMT

Today, my little sister died at 12:01AM from a drug overdose after a long night of partying at a college house party her friends threw for her in celebration of her 21st birthday. MMT

Today, my husband found a diamond engagement ring hidden in our attic. My ex-boyfriend and I purchased this house brand new 15 years ago with the intention of getting married. But he passed away in car accident 6 months later. MMT

Today, I’m sitting in my wife’s hospital room staring at her lying in a coma and wishing I had taken more time off from work so I could have showed her how much I love her more often. And I wish I had joined that book club with her and took her to Paris like I promised. I thought I’d have more time. MMT

Today, the dress shirt I had planned on wearing to my roommate’s engagement party was in my gym bag in his back seat when he hydroplaned on the bridge, went through the guardrail and fell 300 feet into the river basin below. MMT

Today, my father called me from his hospital room and left a voicemail telling me he loves me. We haven’t spoken since I came out to him 8 years ago. When I got the message a few hours later, I immediately returned his call. A nurse came on the line and informed me that he had passed away unexpectedly due to complications during heart surgery. MMT

Today, I’m a veteran emergency room physician. I’ve been credited with saving countless lives over the last 20 years. But one thing nobody knows is that I spend a few minutes almost every day in the hospital restroom crying for my patients. MMT