“You should know I was adopted. After I moved in with my new family, I realized how lucky I was to be there. All the love and food I could ever want! They were all looking at me while they were attempting to sing. Wait a minute… is it MY birthday? On the counter was a huge birthday cake with writing on it.”
“I’ll hold you tight, but I’ll hold your mother tighter. I will never be able to repay her.”
“‘It’s taking too long!’ Then she was quiet. I was quiet. When I took the tests again– 3 more in fact–they all came back positive! [days later – weeks later], I called my husband. He knew if I called during a meeting, it was urgent. ‘Hello?’ he answered. ‘We lost the baby,’ was all I could get out before weeping and shaking.”
“If you do this, Kara, my daughter is going to ask me if she is going to die, too. I reply, ‘Everyone does die eventually.’ She is going to ask me if she will die soon or when she is bigger. I will have to admit mommies don’t actually know everything. If you do this, everyone who loves you will have their own heartbreaking story to tell about how they must now go on without you.”
“There was a grown man in his 40s. Something was off about him. He didn’t speak, but made a lot of noise. He was moving around, weaving in and out of the aisles. When he got to the checkout line, he got very animated about candy bars. An old man behind us snickered and under his breath said, ‘Hurry up.’ I would have never known if it wasn’t for you.”
“If it is causing stress, takes too long, or interferes with other activities the family has, it should be skipped. There’s no dread, no afternoons or evenings filled with anxiety, tears, or frustration.”
“I was crying and screaming as they carried me out. ‘You’re exaggerating and pain pill seeking.’ I only had a week to get my affairs in order. I made sure my son would remember me.”
“It was the day of my first stomach ultrasound. The doctor was quiet. He ended with, ‘I’m getting you in with the doctor’s downstairs soon,’ and walked out. I thought they were going to tell me the gender. I was so naive. ‘Madi, we aren’t here to find out the gender. We’re here because your doctor thinks your baby is dying.’ I bawled. I was handed a sticky note with a phone number for an abortion clinic. It was a matter of time before my body started breaking down.”
“It was a Friday afternoon when I got the call. Athena and I were picking out Build-A-Bears. ‘How was this missed?!’ At the ER, the doctor asked, ‘How did this happen? Who took care of her?’ He was checking to see if we had purposely abused her. ‘We need to verify if DHR needs to be involved.’ It broke my heart all over again. They checked for more bruising. I was terrified of losing her.”
“I remember thinking, ‘This guy better stop,’ but telling Grace in a quick tone, ‘Come on. We need to hurry.’ From the sidewalk, I reached out both of my hands and yelled ‘Stop!’ I watched my own self and 3-year-old daughter get struck by a moving vehicle.”
