“I was sleeping in hospital chairs at 20-something-weeks pregnant, walking a bridge back and forth between the children’s hospital and the cancer center, visiting my mom who was undergoing treatment for her second round of cancer. All while my husband was laid-off for needing time to help watch our other children.”
“The phone call came early afternoon. I should have known something was wrong. ‘Excuse me? I’m not even supposed to be at risk.’”
“The room was silent. Shortly after, the commotion from the NICU team began. I screamed. I yelled. I cried and sobbed as my husband sat next to me, holding my hand, feeling emotions I can’t even imagine as he watched his baby and his wife fall apart in a matter of seconds.”
“’I’m so fat.’ ‘I hate this outfit.’ The word ‘thigh gap’ will enter your daughter’s hemisphere. Every billboard, commercial, random dude, social media post, and Hollywood movie will talk to her about her body. Let that fight START WITH YOU.”
“I like to go through my pictures of Aiden. The people in them have no idea what is coming. I always slow down as I get close to the day he was diagnosed. Maybe I’m trying to stop it from happening.”
“I held her down while they poked the biggest needle I had ever seen into her back. The acid was destroying the white matter of her brain. That’s when it hit me. ‘There’s no cure.’”
“I let her mourn and scream. There was no reasoning with her, anyways. She wanted what she wanted. But, I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘If only she knew what was coming. If only she knew why I wouldn’t pull over.’ I was contemplating this to myself and realized, holy cow, I’m no better than my toddler.”
“I used to make breakfasts for kids in footie pajamas, swinging their legs at my kitchen counter. Now, I make four frozen pizzas at once, trying to keep up with how much these tall kids are eating. I used to stay up at night worrying about what they ate that day. Now, I stay awake hoping they are driving safely.”
“I’m an employee with no sick days, no breaks, and working double-time on holidays.”
“My husband gave me a quick peck and was out the door. Something was wrong, so terribly wrong. I saw the news pop up. ‘There’s been an accident.’”
