"Caring for my mother in the final months of her life was the most fulfilling, satisfying, terrifying, and profound thing I have ever had the honor to experience. I sensed the trust she had for me to care for her without judgment or reservation and the love we shared was deeper than any we had ever expressed before. I wouldn't have traded those shared moments for anything, It was her final gift to me."

Overland Park, Kansas

"I will never forget, I will never forgive but I will never hate."
 
Kansas City, Missouri
 

"This is not the path I thought I'd be on, but this is my path now. It is born of love."

Indianapolis, Indiana

"All we ever wanted was a love that didn’t remind us of pain. We were never hard to love, we just asked the wrong people to try."

Salt Lake City, Utah

"I live surrounded by nature and beauty. Out here, I have everything I need, especially my peace of mind."

"Life has been good to me."

Chicago, Illinois

"Drugs, prison, loss. So, so much loss. Although I tried to leave this world I was saved and now with my newfound faith in God, I've found strength I never knew I had. With that strength came a new bond with my children that is concrete and un-breakable. I finally know that I am no longer a burden, but a blessing."

Kimball, South Dakota

"The struggle of living close to the bone, tragedy, and loss, death, birth, and rebirth. Celebrations of lives well lived and the mourning of those cut short, successes, failures, questions and answers…nothing easy. We've walked this path going on four decades now. Tomorrow the sun comes up, and the journey continues."

Eolia, Kentucky

"While my physical parts feel safe among my living space, rested against a pillow, my heart yearns for my home, my community, our land."

(Nunammi- on the land). Anchorage, Alaska

"I’m living through the largest burden of poverty and health issues that I’ve ever experienced, but I feel more alive than I ever have. Be true to who you are, scream it from the rooftops, and thrive!"

Lexington, Kentucky

"We are tattered and distressed, emotionally wiped, just lost a baby and repairing our relationship. We were made for each other from across the oceans, we found each other"

Atlanta, Georgia

"We came from big cities from opposite coasts. We were looking for a quiet place. We were looking for freedom and sunsets and a sky that lets you breathe deep. Montana became our place."

Esther: "In my quiet space, I find rest and confidence in God!"

Jenne: "On Sundays, we like to rest from the week's hard work, do a little baking for family and friends, and read the bible. Life is a blessing."

Leola, Pennsylvania

"Sometimes when we think about our childhood selves and not have imagined this - living a life with your best friend."

Chicago, Illinois

"My heart knows this is the best part of my life and it keeps the constant whisper of...'Do not miss this.'"

"God gave us the earth as our home, so as long as you are here on Earth you’ll never be homeless."

Chicago, Illinois

"Sometimes I look around me and even on my walls and I just wonder if I’ll ever be one of those people to someone else? I’m trying to finally move forward with my life, study in my field but my own penchant for self-doubt and self-criticism often gets in the way. I need to learn to strong-arm myself into respecting myself or everything will be needlessly more difficult."

Chicago, Illinois

"Life starts in a prone position, just as each day starts and finishes and as life ends."

Land O Lakes, Florida

"By choice, I have slept in the grass for 6 years. My body is cleansed and pure. When I leave, I leave no trace."

Kauai, Hawaii

"We hold this together with our bare bodies, hands and hearts. Lavishly and somewhat simply. We found this love between us one day and we are grateful for it everyday."

"I live out here because I like to sparkle."

"I am in the right place. God gave me this gift. When I come home I am free."

Nikolaevsk, Alaska

"I love you with every atom! You are the tranquility of a calm stream and the excitement of a waterfall. You bring me all my favorite feelings. Forever isn’t long enough with you."

Anchorage, Alaska

"Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn. It’s those ‘losing’ moments that carry weight and bring forth opportunities for movement that could have gone unnoticed had I stood still winning."

Columbus, Ohio

"She asked for my faith. All l had to offer was a song. For her that was a kingdom."

Nashville, Tennesee

"This is where we share our secrets. Where we share each other. Where we show up and lay our heads with no fear. Rest comes east here despite the world being so unpredictable. This is our home."

Madison, Wisconsin

Anna: "As I move through each era of myself, I fall increasingly in love with the new version. Loving myself aggressively and completely is the most radical thing I’ve ever done."

Ruby: "I am fulfilled by the concept that love is a spectrum, whether romantic, platonic or somewhere in between. After a lonely childhood, I have finally found my place in this new chapter of life that gives me comfort and joy that I have never experienced before."

Portland, Oregon

"Life is as simple or complex as I choose to make it. There is peace and comfort in knowing that it's all temporary because it reminds me that my wildest dreams and deepest desires are obtainable and achievable only by me. The only way to get there is to keep moving forward."

Chicago, IL

"It’s hard in Pine Bluff. It’s like a black hole, it sucks you in and keeps you."

Pine Bluff, Arkansas