“This started long before ‘wine mom culture’. Earlier that morning, I was running errands alone. I pulled into a grocery store without thinking. That’s all it took. Horrified, my husband said, ‘You’ve got to stop. Emily, you need help.’ He breathalyzed me daily while taking away all access to money. I was greeted by judgmental preschool moms. These were the same women who cooked dinners every week for my husband and kids while I was gone.”
“I jumped up. My first instinct was to get angry and ask him to please not touch me. Then I noticed something. The man was crying. ‘Do you know where my wife is? I’ve been looking for her.’ He was now shaking and crying softly. I was thinking maybe he lost her in the aisles. Hasn’t everyone lost someone this way? I was wrong.”
“There were several times this week my mom said something about death, dying, a funeral, or a body. One time, she actually said, ‘He’s just going to throw my body in the water.’ Does she know something?”
“My 16-year-old daughter pointed to each of us. She put out her hand, palm up. No lie, I was confused. Why did she have her hand out? Did she want a high-five? Was she looking for money? There had to be something wrong. She placed them on the table, screen down, and then made eye contact with us. I mean, ACTUAL eye contact. I stared at her, hanging onto every-single-word.”
“I was jolted awake at 3:00 in the morning. I panicked and quickly made my way into the hotel bathroom. I had no control. I started to shake and whisper, ‘Please save my baby.’ He was so tiny, and was so incredibly loved. I started to weep as I stared at his precious little being, realizing what had just happened to me. I finally called my husband. I’ll never forget the broken-hearted look in his sweet, hazel eyes.”
“Let me just say, I haven’t had a drink in 16 years, but I wanted a drink today. I wanted one real bad. Listen: I love my daughter, but other people’s kids are a bit much.”
“I’m only 25. Married with two kids at 23. And boom, surprise! We were pregnant again! My husband was downstairs playing on his phone… relaxing. ‘Babe….’ Silence. The look on his face – pure disbelief. I get a call. ‘We have a 3-month-old, very preemie baby girl, ready to be discharged and on oxygen.’ My first thought was, ‘There is no way we can handle this.’ I knew my husband wasn’t going to be on board.”
“After putting the pizza in the oven, I checked my phone to see if the babysitter had texted me. No text, so I decided to scroll Facebook for a minute or two. There it was. A simple post. It couldn’t be true. My heart started beating. Immediately I called my dad, but no answer.”
“‘I knew you wouldn’t be able to control yourself. You’ve proved you can’t change to be a nice girl for me.’ Hours later, I found myself bleeding and alone, thrown from the car. Thankfully, a stranger happened upon me. She called the police. The man I had fallen for was gone. Finally, I broke. I was emerging from the nightmare.”
“We were getting ready for a nice picnic at the park. Suddenly, the right side of his body went stiff. His oxygen dropped. First firefighters, then paramedics. Our house was full of first responders. ‘Why is nothing working?!’ I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. I wanted him to live. I held my breath.”
