“I lost over 30 pounds. I also lost my hair. I threw up constantly, even throwing up blood. Something inside me told me to keep fighting. When my son came out, he wasn’t crying. I knew that moment something was wrong with him. Nobody was listening to me.”
“I finally got to hold him skin to skin. It took everything in me not to cry the entire time. He was perfect. He was everything. When I woke up, people were running everywhere; our doctor was giving orders. ‘His blood pressure is dropping.’ I wasn’t going to lose him, I couldn’t.”
“He was moaning and groaning. I asked everyone in the room what had happened and what was going on. The head nurse shared that my Dad awoke around 3 a.m. in excruciating pain. That one instance led to my dad’s demise. And it was all my fault. That is what the enemy wanted me to believe.”
“I was 19-years-old when I watched my parents shoot up heroin at our kitchen table. This is a picture of what I have left of my dad. I held my father’s hand as they told him there was nothing they could do.”
“As a Christmas Eve baby, I never got parties with friends. My birthday presents doubled as Christmas presents. People wrapped my gifts in Christmas wrapping paper, birthday cakes had Santa on them. Living in the shadow of Kris Kringle, my grandma wanted to do something to make me feel special.”
“Once Noah was born, the whole room was creepily quiet. Finally, one of the doctors said, ‘It looks like the baby may have a disability.’ Suddenly, the family I thought would love him didn’t even want him because he wasn’t ‘perfect.’ Neither did the next. Then, we found Jerene. ‘Are you interested in a special needs adoption? We have a baby boy who needs a family like, yesterday!’ Already 5 children of her own, her response was, ‘Why not?’ I was bawling.”
“There were 12 of us under one roof and not enough to go around. I remember braiding one of my classmate’s hair, in order to make some extra cash. I sat and wondered what her life was like.”
“I remember sitting on my kitchen floor crying. ‘Most children with this condition lead normal lives.’ My world was caving in. I was a carrier. I caused my baby to have such a horrible condition.”
“I knew our family was complete, but I felt longing to be pregnant again. I wanted to bring joy to someone else. ‘Your blood pressure is elevated. You need medication.’ I was crushed. Everything I dreamed seemed to be over.”
“What the people at church did to me was beyond what I even knew until MANY years later. I was a good kid. But I look at it differently now. I wasn’t bad; I had an illness.”
