Today, I was told I have lupus, and that I have roughly ten years left to live a reasonably healthy life. I am 24 years old and I am not afraid of dying; I just realize I have very little time to devote to the causes that I hold dear to my heart. MMT

Today, after having a pretty rough day, I was sitting all alone crying at a coffee shop in downtown Los Angeles. There were people all around me. But not a single person said anything to me. MMT

Today, a family friend passed away from pancreatic cancer. It is exactly 7 months to the day that she was diagnosed. She was my health and wellness teacher in middle school, the most fit person I know, and would always encourage everyone to lead a healthy lifestyle, like herself. RIP Joanne, the irony will always MMT.

Today, as I overheard other kids in my nephew’s kindergarten class mocking him for his hearing aids, in that moment I wasn't sure if I was more angry for it happening or glad for him not being able to hear it. MMT

Today, I dug through a small storage box looking for a stuffed animal to cut open to hide my drugs inside. But when I found the worn stuffed dog I loved as a little girl, all I could manage to do was crawl into bed and cry into its tattered fur. I can't remember how things got to be this bad. MMT.

Today, I realized that ever since my wife passed away two months ago, when I'm home alone I talk to myself, and then answer in another voice just to make conversation. MMT

Today, I live in a tiny motor home in my grandmother’s backyard with my substance abusing mom, her boyfriend, and my two younger brothers. The place is basically to small to turn around in. It's always trashed with beer bottles and filled with cigarette smoke. I sleep on the only open spot on the floor while I give my mom the only bed and my brothers the couch. And I get up and go to school to listen to people whine about not having the latest iPod. What my peers don't appreciate MMT.

Today, our hug may have only lasted for ten seconds, but as my mother passed away in my arms, I realized those ten seconds would stay with me for a lifetime. MMT

Today, the man I am in love with put another picture of his deceased wife and him posing in a new frame. We have been together for about a year and a half now, and even though he says he loves me, he has yet to put up a picture of me. This afternoon I realized, by the sparkling of the new frame, how dusty the other frames of the two of them had become, and so as I do almost every week, I dusted them off for him. MMT

Today, I remembered how the basic training drill leader said, “Good luck over there son!” on my final day of training. But I didn't understand what he really meant until I survived the IDE bomb that claimed the life of a fellow soldier this afternoon. MMT

Today, after nearly 5 years of foolish bickering, it took my dad being diagnosed with cancer to get us to hug again. MMT

Today my family and I got a package. It contained my older brother's girlfriend's senior pictures, several letters and songs she'd written, two of her favorite shirts, her favorite teddy bear, and some old photos of her growing up. We got this package less than two weeks after she killed herself because, according to her, my brother cheated on her before he left to start basic training. MMT

Today, while watching a documentary on the disaster of 9/11, a clip showed one of the planes going into the second tower. Even though I was only 4 when it happened and it happened 11 years ago, tears started to stream down my face. Watching all the innocent lives on the plane and in the tower at the site of the crash being lost in a blink of an eye made my heart ache. I realize that sometimes our lives are held in a stranger's hands and it MMT.

Today, when I grasped my father’s lifeless hand, I realized I never should have told him I hated him – I was lying. MMT

Today, I spent hours driving aimlessly just to feel totally free of the physical and emotional abuse I endure at home for a change. MMT

Today, a week after his passing, his best friend showed me one of their last text message conversations. It was long and it was all about me. But all I remember is the line that read, “We’re going to marry, she simply doesn't know it yet.” MMT

Today my father passed away from cancer. He never drank, never smoked, and never did drugs. In fact he spent 35 years of his life protecting his community as a police officer. He also raised 5 girls and fostered many more with help of his lovely wife. Cancer doesn't always target the ill, and sometimes the good die young, and it really does MMT.

Today, his final tweet reads “Not everybody made it to today, so don't take your time for granted.” It became his final tweet after a drunk driver collided with his motorcycle this evening on his way home from work. MMT

Today, the girl I’ve had a crush on for the past eight years, who I’ve been dating for three months, just told me she just found out she’s four months pregnant with her ex-boyfriend’s kid, and she’s not sure what to do. MMT

Today, I am thinking about the 26 cloth flowers I sewed for his grave, and how I wish I had given him flowers more often, especially on the day he decided to hang himself. MMT