10 Stories That Prove Our Parents Are So Much Stronger Than Superheroes

We grow up thinking superheroes wear capes and fly through the sky. But the real ones? They wake up at 4 AM for work. They skip meals so we can eat. They hide their pain so we never worry.

Our parents sacrifice in ways we often don’t see until years later, sometimes when it’s too late. These stories prove it.

1.

I recently found out my mum gave up food so my brother and I could eat our favorite foods. For years, until my dad got promoted, my mum lived on beans on toast while my brother and I ate our favorite foods every day. © sezrawr / Reddit

2.

My parents never took a vacation. Not once in 30 years. I used to think they just didn’t like traveling.
Last year I found an old envelope in my mom’s drawer. Inside were brochures for Hawaii, Paris, and Greece. All highlighted with little notes in her handwriting. Dates circled. Hotels marked. None of it ever happened.
At the bottom of the envelope was a note in my dad’s handwriting. It said, “Maybe after the kids finish school.” I’m 42 now. They still haven’t gone. But last month I booked them a trip to Hawaii.
I handed them the tickets at dinner. My mom looked at the brochure and then looked at my dad. She whispered, “You kept it.” He nodded. They both cried.
I don’t think I’ve ever done anything more important in my life.

3.

My son was born with heart issues and biliary atresia to top it. I had taken 1.5 months off to be there for the end of the pregnancy and birth. Everything went well until we found out 6 days in about his condition.
My insurance depends on hours worked. I was out of my banked hours and had to go out of town due to it being slow in my home state (construction).
I missed his Kasai procedure and feel terrible guilt for not being there to help Mom with his recovery. It’s been hard. Incredibly hard on her.
He’s recovering well, but I still feel like such a scumbag for not being there for such a major surgery, but at the same time, if I’m not working, we can’t afford any of these medical expenses.
Quite literally between a rock and a hard place right now. I just keep telling myself that if it wasn’t for my career and ability to work out of town as needed, we wouldn’t have the insurance to take care of him.
I want to go home. © Unknown Author / Reddit

4.

I do not regret having my son, but I gave up my schooling, my job, and my freedom when I had him. He is special needs and requires a lot of attention and care.
Sometimes I miss my old life and feel envious when I see people on Facebook talking about their children’s milestones or how they are out having a good time, but then I just get off the Internet and suppress my depression and keep chugging along. © gypsycamptrash / Reddit

5.

My father missed my birth because he was working overtime to pay the hospital bill. My mom says he cried in the parking lot when he finally arrived. I used to think that was sad. Now I realize he spent the most important moment of his life making sure I’d have a safe one.

6.

My mom cleaned houses for rich families in our neighborhood. One day I saw her leaving my best friend’s house with a mop bucket. I was so embarrassed I pretended I didn’t see her. That night she came home exhausted, kissed my forehead, and asked about my day like nothing happened.
I still think about how she protected my feelings while I was too ashamed to protect hers. I never apologized. She never knew. But I carry that guilt everywhere.

7.

My mom sacrificed her knees. When my brother and I were kids, my parents were sort of poor. My mom took a job in an automotive factory and worked 60-80 hours a week on her feet in a hot factory just so my brother and I had everything we wanted and needed.
Years later, she ended up needing to have both knees replaced. She was immobilized for some time, which led to other health issues she’s still battling with today. I think about it pretty often and wish I could have realized it back then and expressed my gratitude.
She always put my brother and me before everything else — even if we simply wanted something but didn’t need it, she’d make sure we were able to get it. © Cheese_Pancakes / Reddit

8.

My mom convinced me and my siblings that adults don’t have to eat as much as children do. She also convinced us that her favorite food was toast. So many, many nights of her eating only toast because she wanted to save all the other food for us. © veryveryplain / Reddit

9.

My Mom left when I was 5. Dad raised me alone and never spoke badly about her. He’d just say, “She had her reasons. Someday you’ll understand.” I hated her my whole life.
On my wedding day, Dad handed me a letter Mom wrote 20 years ago. The first line said, “If you’re reading this, your dad kept his promise.” It revealed that she hadn’t abandoned me; Dad made her leave.
He’d discovered she had early-onset Alzheimer’s and would deteriorate quickly. She wanted to stay, but Dad convinced her to leave and let me remember her as she was, not as the disease would make her.
She’d been in a care facility for 19 years. Dad had been visiting her twice a week, showing her photos of me, telling her about my life. She’d forgotten who I was within three months of leaving. Dad carried that secret, and all my hatred toward him for “letting her go,” for two decades to protect me.

10.

My mom was a successful businesswoman. VP of something I never fully understood. She was always on a call, always catching a flight, always “just finishing up.” I grew up with nannies, housekeepers, and a fridge full of food but an empty dinner table.
She missed my birthdays, my graduation, my first heartbreak. So when she didn’t show up to my wedding at all, I wasn’t even surprised. Just done.
She called the next day, apologizing, saying something came up. I didn’t want to hear it. I told her I was done making excuses for her. I said I needed a mother, not a voicemail.
She passed last month. Pancreatic cancer. She never told me she was sick. At her funeral, a man in a suit walked up to me. Her business partner for 20 years.
He handed me a folder and said, “She made me promise to give you this after she’s gone.” Inside were bank statements. Every year since I was born, she had been putting money into a trust. Millions. But that wasn’t what broke me.
Behind the statements was a letter. It said,
“I know you think I chose work over you. The truth is, I was buying us time. I was diagnosed when you were 3. They gave me 5 years. I got 32. Every meeting, every flight, every late night was me fighting to stay.
I wanted to leave you set for life because I didn’t know how long I had. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. But everything I did was so you’d never struggle when I’m gone. I loved you more than you’ll ever know. I just didn’t know how to show it and stay alive at the same time.”

If your parent is still around, maybe today is the day to call. Not for any reason. Just to say thank you.

Have a story about your own mom or dad? Drop it in the comments. And if you need more proof that ordinary people do extraordinary things, check out these stories that show kindness is still the most powerful force out there.