“I wish I could have told my innocent and naive self to buckle up because that was only the beginning. Once we got the diagnosis, I remember foolishly feeling giddy. Like finally we have the answer and now it will be fine. This will all be okay. Like I said, foolish.”
“I was at Costco with my little crew when a woman approached me about my growing bump. I usually try to ‘kill them with kindness.’ She noticed our four girls and our son, whom we adopted 3 years prior. She made a joke he was the only boy, then shifted her attention to what gender THIS baby would be.”
“I remember her concentrating on a certain part of my shirt, of course, I was scared. I never made it seem as if she was alone in this journey.”
“Pretty soon meltdowns over crayons will turn into breakups, heartbreak, sex, or even depression.”
“I’d express my concern at every follow up, but the doctor assured me everything was healing well. So, I ignored my intuition. The pain persisted. Years later, I looked through hashtags on Instagram, and everything finally made sense. I had discovered it. Instantly I knew.”
“I thought that would be it. I was wrong. What is a mundane task to many is a big deal around here.”
“He’d gone back to trace the footprints of my babies, Leonor and Buchanan, both stillbirths. I was wondering what was taking so long, and started to worry my tattoo couldn’t be done. ‘I don’t want you to think I’m crazy,’ he said. ‘But my grandmother’s name was Leonor Buchanan. She just passed.’ I looked at him in complete shock.”
“Getting an abortion scared the crap out of me. I wanted to be the mother who had all her ducks in a row. The mother whose children were well behaved, drank organic kale smoothies, and began reading at 3.”
“Andy was screaming with a swollen red eye, tears rolling down his face. I saw him run off towards his mom, whom I noticed had been on her phone for the entire hour we were there, not looking up once.”
“If I made everything easy, you’d never know how to work hard. If I paid your way in, you would never know you are capable of accomplishing your dreams on your own.”
