“We made a decision to keep mom safe. Will they check on her enough? Will she be afraid? We all kissed her goodnight, and headed out the door. None of us looked back. What if we made a mistake? I couldn’t breathe.”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘They don’t really feel pain anymore.’ WHAT?! The hardest thing we had to do was say goodnight, and walk out of her room that night.
By Eliza Murphy -
The medics arrived, and he couldn’t hide his pain. My husband extended his hand, looked him straight in the eye and quietly said, ‘thanks for the ride.’
“It was then that I saw it. My husband was a hero. In that moment I witnessed in his deepest, darkest despair, yet he still did the right thing.”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘Being a single parent is tough. However, I will say being solo with young kids is a pretty significant opposite-sex attention grabber.’
“Daughter #1 – ‘Are you married?’ Daughter #2 – ‘Don’t ask her! You are supposed to look to see if she has a RING on her hand, right dad?!'”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘It’s extremely emotional to see my twin son with his brother’s ashes. But I’m so grateful to have such a powerful photo of my boys together forever.’
“She stopped scanning and said to us, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Three words that completely broke my heart and changed my life forever.”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘I was shocked. My 2-year-old was kissing, hugging, and feeding this baby cow. What an incredible experience to get to witness a calf be born!’
“He was glued watching the farmer pull the calf out. He never moved – just kept his eyes on them. What happened next was one of the most beautiful things I’ve witnessed.”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘I stared at their translucent, 1 pound bodies. Guilt overwhelmed me. Yet, there was no judgement from you, our NICU nurse.’
“At one week old, you approached me with a smile. ‘Are you ready to hold your daughter,’ you asked. Weighing just 16 ounces, I held my child for the first time. Thank you to the nurse who gave me that first milestone.”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘How could a perfectly healthy baby just stop breathing? How could I lose my baby like that? Why would this happen to me?’
“I turned to check on him and I couldn’t see him breathing, so I placed my hand on his cheek. It was ice cold. I realized instantly he was gone.”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘She took her last breath. I felt her soul leave her body. She made me promise I would be OK. Armed with a map and her ashes, I set off on a journey of a lifetime.’
“She stared off into the distance, and then turned back to me and smiled. She told me, ‘I want you to go. You need to go. You need to be out there… Nature is your cathedral.’ I will never forget those words.”
By Eliza Murphy -
‘I could see the Pentagon across the water from my office. I was 32 weeks pregnant. It struck us – all at the same time – my husband was in that building.’
11 Sep 2001, 0931 hours. (Classified phone ringing at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington DC): Caller: “There’s an inbound to DC.” Me: “Any targets ID’d?” DIA Senior: “What’s your source?” Me: “My husband in the Pentagon.”
By LJ Herman -
‘HOLY SH*T, we finally did it!’ Wife surprises husband with shocking baby announcement after 3 years of infertility
“She explained it would be extremely hard for me to become pregnant. I broke down in that cold exam room. The only thing in my head was, ‘I can’t have kids. I can’t be a woman for this amazing man who is counting on me.’”
By Eliza Murphy -
