“My husband said, ‘I tried calling Ben, but he’s not answering. That’s not normal. Someone should go check on him.’ Ben has heart problems, he’s elderly. ‘I have a really bad feeling about this.’ They were not going to go inside because they knew he kept a loaded pistol next to the bed.”
“I had a top loading washer and always let Ollie help me throw a few items in – don’t most moms let their kids help? I called his name. No answer. Silence. Nothing. The air began to be very thick. How could this have happened with me only 15 feet away, in the same house?!”
“Someone I love dearly timidly asked, ‘Did he do those things regularly?’ I considered keeping his secret. I chose not to disclose WHY he died. I told people, tight-lipped, ‘He died in his sleep.’ I held onto the shame and guilt. ‘I’ll do this for you,’ I thought.”
“We were looking into adoption. It was dicey. Their mom was doing JUST enough to make it seem like she was on track to get them home, but barely. And then we got the news. We didn’t think much of the warning signs.”
“A text comes to me about 11:24. It reads, ‘Are you at work? Can you call me?’ Abigail’s mother no longer wanted to be around me. I was a reminder of our trauma. It was devastating because now I feel completely erased from her life as if nothing ever happened. I constantly dream of the family that almost was.”
“They think I’m not grateful because God forbid, I complain. Every night I’m always the last one. It’s scary being in charge. And it’s hard to admit it. Sometimes I want to give it all up.”
”When Joshua was born, there was no cry. His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and the doctor had to pry it off piece by piece. The second I saw him, I knew. At that moment, everything changed.”
“The first time I met their mother, I was terrified. My mind raced with a million possible scenarios of who she was, of how this meeting would go, NONE of which I could see ending well. Hell no.”
“Joe had lived with a caring foster mother for the past 7 years. He has cognitive disabilities and required ongoing care, even though he was now an adult. I emailed friends, ‘I feel sad he is not with us.’ Less than an hour later, I got her text. We had less than a day to decide.”
“A normal errand changed my life forever. She ignited a fire within me. My mind was closed to the idea I could love more than one person. I worried I’d upset my children. I was a typical 30-something, suburban mom.”
