“I would tell him I was in for the night, he would call and insist I meet him out somewhere. I would say no more drinks, he would order me another one. Every bartender in town knew to pour half my drink out when he wasn’t looking. I was scared to tell him no.”
-“Two of the humans who I love more than they could ever fathom, I have to worry about them dying for no reason other than the color of their skin or the badge on their shirt. My heart is in pieces.”
-“Even skin conditions you have no control over will have people asking you questions about your ability to ‘keep yourself.’ I said I would make it my mission to spend 30 days working on body acceptance. When the 30 days were up, I got some horrible news. I realized, it’ll take more than 30 days to do.”
-“He’s avoided walking down grocery aisles. People call him Obama because he’s very well spoken…for a black man. He’s been told, ‘Our entrees start at $50,’ as we walked into an upscale restaurant. He’s listened to heinous racial slurs casually dropped. But don’t worry, they apologized afterwards. They would never want to offend him.”
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“I never had the chance to ask myself, ‘Why me?’ I knew EXACTLY why me from the moment I hung up the phone that day. I feel like I have been preparing for this my entire life.”
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“I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know when our lives will get back to normal. I don’t know what our next school year will look like and when I will get to see you again. But what I do know is you are worth facing any challenge.”
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“Because of autism, I don’t have to explain the growing list of hashtags. Because of autism, I must worry about protecting my nonverbal child from authorities who don’t understand she will not comprehend or obey verbal orders.”
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“He would be so confused as to why he was restrained and had a tube down his throat. I stood bedside, looking at my strong boy who was now lifeless. My world came crashing down. I reflected on how I was going to help my strong dude recover.”
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“When she was put into my arms almost 23 years ago, the only thing I saw was a beautiful baby with huge eyes and the longest eyelashes I’d ever seen. In these times of sadness and heartbreak, I am reminded my daughter’s skin isn’t just a beautiful color of brown, but the reason she may not be as safe as I am.”
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“As a child, you always told me, ‘While I gave birth to your three brothers, it was you I picked.’ You loved me just as much as the three sons you birthed from your own body.”
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“I waited nervously for the audible gasps. ‘Have you tried washing your face?’ I was the class guinea pig. I always assumed people were laughing at me.’’
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“He knocked on my patrol car window. I responded, ‘With ME?’ He again said, ‘Can I take a picture with you?’ His mother shed a tear as she held the camera. He is too young to see hate or racism, too young to see that Police can be bad and dishonor their badge.”
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“I frantically called. ‘What are you talking about?!’ The receptionist said, ‘According to the background check, you’ve committed several felonies in the state of Texas.’ I’d lived in Colorado for 40 years. The more agitated and defensive I got, the more guilty I sounded. You see, I fit the description.”
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“I grew up in a dysfunctional home of drug addiction and verbal abuse. My parents got a divorce when I was 7 because my father had been having several affairs. When my wife approached me with the desire to foster, I felt unprepared. I’d experienced so much trauma in childhood, I only had examples of what not to do as a father. God had others plans.”
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