Sonia Beltz is a former digital editor for Love What Matters based near Dayton, Ohio. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Iowa. In her free time, you can find her writing, reading, or researching random historical facts online. Follow her on Instagram at @skatbel.
“I didn’t quite look like the other girls. I was curvy and had a big chest. I stood in front of the mirror in my grandparents’ bathroom, analyzing the shape of my body. I was peeling off an old layer of me and discovering the depth of my true identity.”
“I realized I’d be ‘aging-out’ of care. No one ever adopted me. I had to get a job and work. I needed to save money. I cried. I cried for the sacrifices I was forced to make.”
“Really, it’s just a sugary, Southern way to say, ‘Get back in your lane.’ The highest compliment a young lady could receive was to be seen as ‘a sweet girl.’”
“As an adopted child, feeling like you are ALONE is often just a part of the territory. Feeling that way when I’d been given so much was difficult and made me feel so guilty. With sadness and the ever-growing ‘birth family’ hole in my heart, I moved forward with my life. These ‘search angels’ did more for me than they will ever know.”
“Tate was having some seizure activity. ‘He’s not going to get better.’ I crumbled all over again with strangers and secretaries staring at me. ‘Anyone else would be driving as fast as they could towards a hospital, and you guys are driving as fast as you can away from it.’”
“My daughter is starting kindergarten. She’ll be wearing a mask, staying 6 ft apart from others, and eating in her classroom. As we drew, I explained the new way school would be operating. This was now turning into something I never could have imagined.”
“And then the unthinkable happened. Lots of crying, hitting, and aggression. But I was not ready to quit.”
“My contractions started suddenly, like five-minutes apart. I froze and went into shock. I remember my nerves taking over and my body shaking uncontrollably. ‘This baby needs to come out NOW.’ My heart became so heavy, it felt like it sank, and we just held hands and cried together.”
“The last thing I wanted was for a student to end the school year with a D or F. Every time I crossed a student off my list, I’d do a little victory dance in my kitchen. It’s been a mixed bag of emotions.”
“The gate separating the patio from the pool was propped wide open. She went straight to the pool. My husband was first to see the horror in her face.”
