“While my son was sick in the NICU, I bonded with another mom whose daughter was born severely premature. The prognosis was grim. When the time came to take her daughter home, she had one thing to say: ‘Thank you God for saving my daughter’s life. I know this was all your doing.’ Bloodshot-eyed nurses gazed across the room. I couldn’t help but feel a pang in my chest. She didn’t thank them, she didn’t look at them. She simply swaddled her baby, and left.”
“‘Finally’ you said under your breath as I said ‘excuse me’ so we could exit the bleachers. You didn’t know my 4-year-old son has autism. You didn’t know about all of the ear infections and hearing loss. You weren’t there the day we discovered his new sensitivity to loud noises. I’ll never forget the way you made my family feel. I will make sure no one ever feels like that.”
“The few that circulated rumors. The few that always had something derogatory to say about you. The few that would always leave you out of the loop and make you feel unworthy of being apart of the ‘in’ crowd. I moved to a new city to begin my career as a Nurse Practitioner. I was hit with the reality the mean girls club still existed.”
“20 years from now, your kids won’t care whether you were the most successful person at work. They won’t care whether or not you always made the most responsible choices. The days are long but the years are short. Make them count. Take the trip. Do all the things. Every hope and dream we had for our future together died with him that day.”
“He recognized another boy like him, smiling and laughing on a display at Target. Oliver sees kids every day, but he never gets to see kids like him. This was amazing!”
“I got the phone call that would change our lives forever. ‘Her mother was found deceased this morning.’ We asked, ‘How would y’all feel if A.J. stayed with us forever?’ The two girls’ bond is like I have never seen. She doesn’t see A.J as ‘different,’ she just sees her baby sister. I don’t think any of us could imagine life without her.”
“My boyfriend wasn’t always faithful and being a scared, pregnant teenager wasn’t easy. My boyfriend and baby’s dad asked me, ‘Can you get an abortion?’ I often put on a happy face for everyone, but at home alone with a toddler, I would lay in bed for hours, not wanting to get up. I wouldn’t brush my hair. I wouldn’t clean my house. I didn’t recognize myself and the people around me.”
“‘Hi Riley, see you in the yard.’ This one sentence made me beam from ear to ear. At that moment, I knew that my little boy was OK. My little boy had a friend, one who finally took the time to learn his name.”
“We are told ‘You can be whatever you want to be! You don’t have to live in a 1950’s mindset! You can be a CEO!’ What they don’t tell you is the pit in your stomach you feel when you get a notice about a 6 p.m. conference on the day of your kids practice or activity. The panic when your kid’s school calls and asks you to pick them up because they are sick and you don’t want your bosses to be upset.”
“My best friend’s wedding was only 3 weeks away. As we got closer to the date, I realized I needed to get my sh*t together if I didn’t want to look like a hot mess at the altar. After all, I’d just had a 9-pound baby boy cut from my uterus. I headed to my local spray tan salon. Milk was squirting onto the sides of the booth. I was leaking, BAD.”
