“I was born with drugs and alcohol in my system and severely underweight. It just felt like I belonged to them. It was something in my eyes; I was made to be their daughter. ‘You’re so lucky you don’t have to deal with what we had to deal with.’ But I always felt like something was missing.”
“Stuff is hitting the fan, and I’m out of wipes, candles, and Febreze; the mop is missing; and the vacuum isn’t working — at least that’s how it feels. Like I was/am totally and completely ill-prepared for the day-to-day. A day-to-day and hour-to-hour I cannot predict or plan for.”
“The social worker asked, ‘What ethnicities are you open to?’ We sent Jonah a video of us, a stuffed animal, and a security blanket with our scent so it would be familiar. Every night, he slept with the stuffed animal and blanket. He watched our video, over and over and over again. We just ‘knew’ he was meant to be ours!”
“Things between the seven of us, however, have followed more the natural progression of your average blended family. Meaning we have been to hell and back. Thrice.”
“After 93 days in the hospital, she was able to walk out.”
“Carter went from speaking two-word sentences to having his vocabulary drop to less than ten words. ‘He’s 3 and not potty trained?’ I laughed, ‘Oh, you know boys.’ Our sweet, joyful little boy did a complete 180 before our very eyes.”
“The nurse lectured me about being active and eating healthy, even though I could clearly see the box of Twinkies on her desk. I made three separate trips to the ER for bleeding. The doctor said, ‘There is nothing to be done now.’”
“Next time you see an addict on the street and you think they’re just a junkie or piece of garbage, please remember that’s someone’s family, someone’s dad, someone son, someone’s sibling, and they were someone before drugs or alcohol took them over. My dad may be an addict, but he never stops trying.”
“Stella was nursing very often but having very few wet diapers. I could tell she was losing weight. I panicked and tried all the things. I ate more calories, ordered breastmilk support supplements, latched Stella what felt like a million times a day, then pumped after that. I was suffocating.”
“He used to say to me, ‘Why can’t I stop at one drink?’ It plagued him. He drank. Then he drank a little more. I grabbed the essentials and I left. I thought I was making the best choice possible.”
