‘I was standing 3 feet away from my son, close enough to him to ‘hear’ any struggling. Whatever you’ve seen on TV, just forget. Drowning is silent.’: Bereaved mother shares water safety PSA, ‘I can only hope his story will save others’

“Nothing angers me more than generic water safety messages for parents. As if we don’t already care enough to get them swim lessons. Water safety is NOT that simple. So, this won’t be one of those messages. This one is real, and it is raw I checked ALL the boxes a ‘good mom’ before going to the pool.”

‘Wow, that’s so cool I have 2 moms! May I have a snack?,’ was his reaction at age 5. ‘Aren’t you worried they’ll take the boys back?’ We are not a bit worried. We told him he grew up in her tummy.’

“And then we met her – this gorgeous strawberry blond young lady with the most beautiful green eyes looking at us from across the table. She had one question for us. Our knees were shaking just getting the news. We were not convinced it would be ‘wonderful’ at all. We were intimidated and scared.”

‘I was sent home alone in an Uber in the middle of the night. ‘Just tell me your name!’ I couldn’t remember for the life of me what it was. All I could do was cry. That’s the only thing I remembered how to do.’

“I’ll never forget how I felt. I seemed hungover, except that wasn’t the case. My doctor told me, ‘Have you ever thought that it might be all in your head?’ Everything began to take a turn. I was once the quick-witted friend who always had a joke. Now I was the girl in the back of the classroom, crying because I didn’t know how to be a person anymore.”

‘My dad was married and had an affair with my mom. I became the product of their affair.’: Woman overcomes childhood trauma, addiction, proclaims ‘I wear my story with pride – all of it!’

“On the outside, we looked normal. But behind closed doors, dark secrets hid. My younger sister woke up while it was happening. She said, ‘Daddy can you do that to me like you do to Shannon?’ He told her, ‘No it’s only for her.’ I was only in 4th grade and it tore me apart. I still hear and feel him breathing down my neck.”

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