“People often feel awkward asking questions about my daughter. Penny gets sidelined from activities and events because they don’t know how to welcome her. The message of inclusion is, ‘We want you here with us.’ But belonging emerges from a deep desire to not just include the ‘other,’ but to love and be loved.”
“I got a message on social media from the guy I had dated and lost my virginity to as a teenager. I hadn’t talked to him in a decade. At first, it started out with us just catching up. I enjoyed the friendship and connection. In the beginning, that’s all it was. It breaks my heart to write these words. Something had to give. Something had to change.”
“I woke up with a sore knee. We ignored it… until the pain became unbearable and was spreading. It all happened so fast. I was too overwhelmed to be scared. However, I was confused. We all were. The tricks I used to gross my friends out ended up being a piece of the puzzle. Hyper mobility, one of the most obvious symptoms of EDS.”
“The driver accidentally veered off the road. We crashed into a steep ravine, and were engulfed in flames. I immediately knew, I’d have to run through the fire and get burned. I chose to run. I crawled up the ravine and ran as fast as I could, screaming for my buddies. Sadly, my buddies never made it.”
“‘Why my son?! Why me?!’ We went home and packed up his clothes, toys. His grandparents held onto everything else. We couldn’t bear to. But we destroyed the Rock ‘n Play he died in. I’ve seen news stories about their recalls. Of course, it makes me wonder if that’s what happened to my son. We will never know. Within weeks of his passing, I was pregnant. Intentionally. Family was concerned. I didn’t care.”
“When I first met him, I was cleaning tables at McDonald’s. He was so sexy and had the most beautiful blue eyes I’d ever seen. And he just HAD to hold them on mine. We parted ways, but later I found him on social media. I essentially moved in that first night.”
“My daughter Maya is 2.5 years old. She has all these little toys she plays with under strict supervision. Somehow, she managed to smuggle one up to bed. I quickly yell to my partner. He’s there in seconds, telling me to call an ambulance. So, I’m screaming words that don’t even make sense down the phone to 911. ‘This must be a dream, this can’t be happening.’ Right at that moment, I thought she was dead.”
“’Can you leave? We are having girl chat.’ I left and sat alone in the field. Teachers would laugh when I’d tell them I was being bullied. I cried and prayed to God, ‘Please let me wake up and be a girl.’ This is me. I am a woman.”
“‘Have you been notified of that boy’s roommate at the group home?,’ he asked. ‘We have not,’ I replied. ‘Would you be willing to meet him?’ 3 months later, he was moving in with us hours before his first day of high school. We found out I was pregnant by surprise. ‘This is crazy. We can’t do this, right?’ We were going to have 2 babies and a teenager with PTSD. Less than a year ago, we had no kids.”
“When I’m in public, I’m constantly apologizing for our family. I whisper, ‘Shh, baby. No shouting please.’ But yesterday, a grandmother-type woman stopped me in my tracks.”
