“I remember feeling the most horrendous pain shoot up my left arm. ‘Please, God, don’t let me die. My three children still need me.’ An overwhelming sense of doom came over me. All I could see were the dark eyes of my doctor hovered over the rail of that hospital bed. He told me, ‘This is a wake up call, Adrienne.’ I was alone, naked, vulnerable, and helpless. The only thing I could do was pray.”
“There is no shame in my seat-saving game. Either ‘get me,’ or you hate me.”
“‘You’re not leaving this table until you finish what is on your plate! Do you hear me?’ My parents begged, pleaded, and demanded me to eat. But my disease was much bigger than them. At 5’11” and 86 pounds, I was admitted to a hospital away from my school, my family, my friends – everything I knew. I’ll never forget the absolute horror of having to be pried off of my parents, not knowing when I would see them again.”
“The doctor was holding a box of tissues. I let out the most piercing wail. I was inconsolable. I asked my husband, ‘Can we pray?’ It was the only time I saw him break down. We both buckled at the knees. I was lead back to a corner room at the end of the hallway. A nurse was there. ‘I am sorry for your loss.’ My son had an aura around him, an angelic light radiating behind him.”
“24 weeks pregnant, we got devastating results, yet again. But this time was different. We found out our miracle child had a rare diagnosis. We were given the option of terminating her, just after I finished telling the doctor how beautiful she was. After 5 long, painful, and agonizing years, I cried. Nothing was going to stop us from having the family we dreamt of.”
“My son climbed onto the counter and got into some medication. This launched an investigation of abuse on me. The state caseworkers were trying to prove I purposely overdosed my son because he was ‘just too much for me.’ ‘Too much for me?!,’ I exclaimed, ‘These kids are everything to me.’ They replied, ‘We believe you’re too stressed from a recent divorce. We need to make sure you are safe for your children.’ I felt the fire consume me. It was all so much.”
“Why does this holiday season feel so weird? Maybe it’s because all I want to do is sit around and watch Christmas movies, but there’s always somewhere to be. Or maybe it’s because I’m so busy buying the things the stores are telling me I need to be busy buying that I’m not looking at the gifts right in front of me. Can we just…oh, I don’t know…stop? And breathe. And enjoy. And be with each other. THAT is where the holiday lives.”
“I was 19 when I decided I was going to adopt a baby. My husband shrugged, smiled, and said, ‘Sounds good to me!’ We had 4 days to do…everything. We laid in bed, trying to fathom the idea this would be our last night alone. When the day came, the grief rocked me to the core. While we were gaining a son, his first family was losing a son.”
“The lights went off. I was sure I’d see the whole neighborhood dark – it couldn’t just be MY house. I had a $1,500 credit on my electric bill after my husband died. I saw my neighbor’s Christmas display up and running, complete with a tiny robotic carolers singing, ‘Joy to the World,’ while my blow-up Santa lay lifeless in the front yard. ‘Can you just send the technician back?’ She was NOT having it.”
“I had thoughts of ’maybe something is wrong with me. Will I ever have another healthy pregnancy again?’ My doctor told us we could start trying again as soon as we felt ready. I slowly looked down. ‘Alex, there are TWO lines!’ We’d made it to the safe zone. ’I think this baby is going to be just fine, congratulations!’”
