“You had a huge fight with your partner. You wonder if you are being abused, or if it was ‘just a mistake.’ You watch them chat and laugh with your partner at holidays and school functions, and you know they will never believe what happens behind closed doors.”
“We were flying back with our baby 5 days after she was born. We boarded early, and passed a number of men wearing hunting gear, whom I thought may have a problem with our family. But as we sat in our seats, wiping down all the surfaces and trying not to freak out, 2 of the guys in hunting gear came up to us and said, ‘Congratulations, you 3 make such a beautiful family.’ It was an important reminder.”
“I stare at a picture of smiling faces. We look happy, relaxed. ‘Remember this day? So much fun!’ she wrote. We were connected then. An unbreakable bond of friendship. Now, we only talk every few months in emails like this, often forgotten by me. I feel guilt wash over me. I’m knee-deep in parenting. I’ve changed.”
“I’ll never forget the moment we were told the news. ‘Sophia’s mouth, hands and feet are severely deformed. She might not survive birth.’ But she did. Her birth was the exact moment our lives changed forever. When they laid her on my chest, a voice in my mind said, ‘Comfort her, you need to comfort her.’ I was in shock as my little girl stared into my eyes. I’d never seen anyone like her.”
“Waiting rooms and doctor’s offices remind me of her – my first baby. It didn’t feel ‘common’. It hurt. Don’t tell her ‘you’ll have another one.’ She’s trying. She needs to know it’s okay to feel.”
“I thought he was joking. ‘Ohhhhh, I was hoping to walk in and see that you two were just very short. Have you ever seen the little people shows on TV?’ What the heck? He was convinced our son was a dwarf. He double checked measurements. He was actually serious! ‘What will our friends think?!’ I couldn’t breathe.”
“I lived in 12 different homes from ages 12 to 18. I had few stable adults in my life. Scott became my track coach my sophomore year. I threw emotional fits. He casually said, ‘I think you can win state.’ Then he paused and took in a deep breath. ‘If you do what I say.’ His devotion to me was unwavering and father-like. Not just as my coach, but as a dad.”
“I started questioning religion in my adolescence. My parents didn’t think I knew what I REALLY felt. I was just a ‘hormonal teenager.’ Now, I’m a 35-year-old agnostic. I am unapologetically raising my daughter without religion. And boy, you’d be surprised how many people have a serious problem with that.”
“You’d be outraged! Imagine what that would do to that little girl’s confidence? Imagine the issues? You’d probably have something to say to the person spouting this drivel. And yet, how many times do you say it to yourself?”
“I told my husband over dinner while our kids were also trying to talk. Poor timing, but I hadn’t told anyone and just needed to get it off my chest. I took him by surprise. ‘I thought I was pregnant, but I’m not.’ My eyes were filling with tears. I hated how emotional I was getting. He was shocked. Relieved. Not as sad as I was.”
