“It had been 4 months since we’d had any contact. I hear someone calling my name. It’s my son! It’s a miracle. I hugged my sickly thin boy and told him, ‘I love you.’ I didn’t want to let go. I offered to buy him a meal. Our interaction was less than 10 minutes long. I left him there.”
“There were red flags when he was only 18 months old. Many doctors, because of his age, wouldn’t even see us. When meltdowns occur, we feel embarrassed and panicked. Everyone either tries to help in ways that usually make things worse, or just stare without a clue how to help.”
“The waiting game absolutely killed me. I was crying, desperate and confused. I felt like somebody was trying to take my baby away. My husband and I had to plan to spend time together. Our marriage and our relationship come before everything, and we don’t take it lightly.”
“I knew right away this baby was destined to be ours. Mike and I had settled into a routine of pinching pennies, sharing domestic duties, and bonding with our little guy, when my world was shattered once again. For reasons of which I’m still not entirely sure, my loving husband, Brenden’s father, took his own life.”
“I was walking down the sidewalk when I suddenly felt like my body was struck by lightning. My legs grew heavier with each step. All I could think was, ‘Something is very wrong.’ Nothing like this had ever happened before. The scariest part is fearing every day that I’ve passed it onto my daughter.”
“My Memaw had a brain aneurysm that left her unable to live alone when I was 15, followed quickly by dementia. She didn’t always know who we were. Some days she talked. Some days she didn’t. Some days she had it together. And some day, well, some days were rough.”
“God only knows where my mother was, we didn’t even share a zip code, much less a zipped dress. I hopped in my car, which you can see was chalk full of clothes, because to be honest, I lived out of it half the time. Didn’t I look so happy?”
“My parents sacrificed so much for their kids. They moved to the USA with $0. Even if I gave them the whole world, it would never be enough to repay them. I hope to continue making them proud.”
“Teaching was tenable when I was a 22-year-old single renter. It no longer works when I have a family and a mortgage. I’m not looking to have a crazy affluent lifestyle over here. But the fact is, I can only afford to live in the neighborhood where I teach because I’m married.”
“A few months ago, my boys colored with pen all over Talking Booty Baby’s face and I thought world was coming to an end. But that was NOTHING compared to what happened the other day. Oh no, no, no.”
