“David is autistic, has no communication skills, and is completely homebound due to medical conditions. He has never had a birthday party with children his own age. His outings outside the home are severely limited. Recently, his grandmother, who is one of his best friends, passed away. I knew he was lonely. How could he not be? Then, for the first time, he spoke. I was floored.”
“I dream of that day baby girl, when I finally get to hold you in my arms, run my fingers through your curly blonde hair, kiss your chubby cheeks, look into your big beautiful eyes and tell you how much I love you.”
“Each day, we wait and wonder. Will there be a new word? Does she understand ours? Being a mother and knowing how to speak to your child that cannot speak. When they create the word for that – let me know.”
“She caught me by surprise. ‘What would you do if I dated a girl?’ I immediately told her, ‘If you date a girl, you’re going to hell.’ The instant the words escaped my lips, something else hit me harder than the fear of my child in hell. I broke her heart. I never thought my child would be gay. I began noticing small cuts on her arms. I was losing her. I would have risked anything for her to find herself and be happy.”
“I was in line to get help at the Apple Store. When my husband died, he took his computer wizardry tricks with him. This bridezilla went on for 20 minutes about wedding details, dresses, annoyances. I looked at her and said, ‘Will you still love him on the brink of death?’ I told this poor bride-to-be I was a widow. I couldn’t help it. I broke. ‘Someday, you’ll see none of this matters.’ She was stunned.”
“I traded a life of steady income and comfort for a life on the streets in order to support my addiction. I slept in homeless camps, under bridges, along railroad tracks, and in strangers’ houses. My sign, ‘Support my whiskey right for a frisky night,’ made more money than any other sign asking for help. I was living on the street, so no one cared. It came with the territory.”
“This couldn’t be happening to me. I couldn’t breathe, and to top it off my husband was out of town on business. I tried calling him and he didn’t answer. ‘This can’t be how my story ends.’”
“I wasn’t quite prepared for what I was about to see. They told us his wrist was shattered and he had amnesia. Two weeks before his surgery, I had a prophylactic double mastectomy. Sounds crazy, right? This past summer, the radiologist made a mistake and didn’t compare my scans and basically stated that I had cancer. I decided to go flat. The anxiety was real.”
“I kissed her on the forehead and whispered, ‘I will always love you.’ I wondered if I would ever see her again. While I reveled in my three biological sons and one adoptive son, my thoughts often wondered back to her. I couldn’t take care of her at birth, but now I could.”
“Gunner was never been a ‘problem child.’ He had a whole life ahead of him. Goals, aspirations. He wanted to be a dad. He wanted to continue playing football in college. Gunner wasn’t done. One bad choice, one stupid minor mistake, was all it took. Gunner, I would do just about anything to bring you back. For one more hug. For one more smile. For one more, ‘Hey, Aunt Brandi.’ The pill had enough poison to kill 10 adult males.”
