“There were things about me that just didn’t make sense. I have blue eyes, olive skin, and tan easily. No one in my family has blue eyes; not my mom, not my sister, or my grandparents. I was the vacation souvenir he knew nothing about. Nearly 24 hours later, HE RESPONDED.”
“My mom always carried a brush and detangler. She still carries them with her everywhere she goes, 26 years later. I remember sitting on the floor in my living room, my mom meticulously brushing for hours, crying because of the comments. I wanted to be like the other kids. ‘This is just the way it is, honey.'”
“’Mommy, I’m just sad and don’t know why.’ My heart broke for him. There were no goodbyes.”
“Caleb is autistic and struggles with comprehending and engaging in conversation. My reality is that I can’t have race conversations. I don’t know if he will ever understand.”
“People would approach our daughter and ask if she was lost and needed help finding her mommy. We were followed and harassed by cops sometimes for miles while we drove. They demanded to know if he was a gang banger.”
“People ask me all the time if I knew. What I knew was that I loved him. I spend a lot of time asking who is to blame.”
“They stand by me through the hardest times of my life. They have most recently watched me lose myself in someone who was not worthy of my time. They include us in family gatherings, and their husbands step up when my daughter needs a father figure in her life.”
“He is 12 months old and still not walking. Why is it we want to rush the milestones instead of embracing them being babies for just a little bit longer?”
“10 minutes after turning off the light, I whispered, ‘Are you asleep?’ Stephen turned the light back on. We had to make a decision about bringing two children into our family solely based on pictures. ‘These were the children God sent to us, so, what is there to discuss?’ That was the moment they began to grow in our hearts.”
“Scared to look, I took a deep breath and finally turned towards my husband. I screamed like I never had before, a scream so loud it still haunts me today. My husband was leaning towards me, blood pouring out of his ears. His once beautiful green eyes were now open and looking up, lifeless.”
