“As I looked at the plate of cookies, sure enough, there was a cookie angel I had decorated. I smiled at my daughter as my eyes welled up with tears.”
‘There’s a Christmas tree. There’s a gingerbread man.’ But it’s what she said next that took my breath away. ‘And there’s Parker,’ my daughter recited.’
‘I thought his bunk bed was safe. His doctor said he has a significant, horrible concussion, one of the worst she has ever seen in a child.’
“Please reconsider the use of bunk beds/loft beds for your kids, even with a safety rail.”
‘YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS.’ I decided enough was enough.’: Single teen mom of special needs child details journey
“Now I was really scared. Here I am, 19 years old, with a kid – a special needs kid at that – and totally alone.”
‘Her eyes were huge, her skull was misshapen. Even though we had prepared ourselves as best as we could, it was still a shock to see Emmy in the flesh.’: Mom gives birth to baby with Pfeiffer Syndrome
“My honest thought when I first saw her was, ‘It wasn’t supposed to be this bad.’ Our doctor didn’t say anything. The nurses were silent. Emmy was silent. It was eerie and terrifying. We know she will always look different and will face bullies in her lifetime, but our goal is to always show her how loved she truly is.”
Love What Matters Makes The 2018 Chartbeat List Of Most Engaging Stories – Twice
In February, we launched Love What Matters with the dream of building a community around hope, support, compassion, healing and kindness. From day one, you embraced us with open arms, learning, opening up and connecting with one other. Today, we’re proud Love What Matters has two stories on the 2018 Chartbeat List of Most Engaging …
18 Things I Learned About Life After My Grandfather’s Death
“Say the nice stuff, the uplifting stuff, the encouraging stuff, the emotional stuff. Pick up the phone. Start texting. Drive to their house.”
‘Mommy, when will I have a sister?,’ she asked. As my eyes welled up with tears, I said, ‘I don’t know honey. You’ll have to talk to God about that.’
“Although I was pregnant with what I believed to be a baby girl, I knew I wouldn’t be for much longer. Shortly before dropping my daughter off at school that morning, my water had broken.”
‘The doctor knelt beside my bed with our baby. ‘There are things I want to point out to you.’ Those words hit me hard. ‘No she’s perfect. That’s not possible – she was already tested for that.’
“This was not how it was supposed to be. I was grieving the perfect baby I had in my head for 10 months. I felt pity for not only myself, but her. I wanted to know ‘why us?’”
‘As I looked in the mirror, I immediately started critiquing myself. Then I heard my daughter tell my husband, ‘She really IS Wonder Woman.’ My heart just stopped.’
“I go to bed and beat myself up for all the things I didn’t do perfectly that day. They go to bed with smiles, and I fall asleep with a panic attack. I see scars everywhere from the life I’ve survived.”
‘I’m about to share a coveted family secret with you. With ears prone to infections and broken eardrums, I use this all the time.’
“Your child ever wake up screaming in pain of an ear infection? Because it takes 30 minutes for pain meds to kick in, this is the handiest trick you will ever learn.”