“My son has had autonomy since he was a toddler. As he grows, he makes as many decisions about his own body as possible. Our only limits are safety and hygiene. We often hear, ‘…But..but…but…it’s PINK!’ ‘Why don’t you just cut your hair like a boy?!’ ‘That’s for girls, you don’t want that!’ He informs them with absolute integrity, ‘No, it’s for PEOPLE!’”
“I’ll always be grateful for Lindsay, the amazing woman who spent days on the phone with me. She guided me to find meditation teachers, ended my anxiety and changed my life forever.”
“What I do feel is an inner peace, an inner confidence and happiness from within. I have grown so close to my kids and they continue to push me to be the best person I can be. I look into my son’s eyes and I push myself to show him a confident, independent woman who deserves respect. I look into my daughter’s eyes and I strive to be the example of a woman paving the path of ‘doing it all’ while still expressing her emotions. It is so important to me to continue to build myself up and keep my children’s environment stable, healthy, and consistent.”
“The greatest part about parenting for me has been the ability to see life through a different lens. Even though getting pregnant was a major curveball in my baseball game of life, it put me into a position to grow immediately. I am a firm believer life doesn’t always give us what we want, but it will always give us what we need.”
“I had a Grand-Mal Seizure. I was completely unresponsive. They had to cut my clothes as a life-saving measure. I understood why, but seeing everything cut to pieces shattered me. I sobbed. As soon as I got home, I ordered another jacket. Then I noticed a strange package. It was my coat, the same style, size, color. No one had any clue what I was talking about. I want to find out who did this for me.”
“I’m not ever going to tell them that I wasn’t thinking about the mess, and that I was loving their little faces and the joy that was taking place. That’s MY secret. But it’s the little things. Really. It’s not really about WHO cleans up the mess, it’s about the lesson.”
“I remember feeling the most horrendous pain shoot up my left arm. ‘Please, God, don’t let me die. My three children still need me.’ An overwhelming sense of doom came over me. All I could see were the dark eyes of my doctor hovered over the rail of that hospital bed. He told me, ‘This is a wake up call, Adrienne.’ I was alone, naked, vulnerable, and helpless. The only thing I could do was pray.”
“There is no shame in my seat-saving game. Either ‘get me,’ or you hate me.”
“The doctor was holding a box of tissues. I let out the most piercing wail. I was inconsolable. I asked my husband, ‘Can we pray?’ It was the only time I saw him break down. We both buckled at the knees. I was lead back to a corner room at the end of the hallway. A nurse was there. ‘I am sorry for your loss.’ My son had an aura around him, an angelic light radiating behind him.”
“The surgeon oh-so-casually said, ‘While I have you under anesthesia, I can take out the IUD, too.’ Two months later, I was pregnant. I never fully understood how much I wanted to experience pregnancy until my first one ended. In couple’s therapy, tears and snot poured down my face. I tried to explain to my husband how much I wanted to be pregnant. While I was running errands later that day, I saw a rainbow. My friend’s response? ‘God doesn’t mess around when it comes to signs.'”
