“If I didn’t make a major change, I was going to kill myself — one bite of food at a time. I’d tried everything short of having an eating disorder and had no hope. ‘How was your surgery? Oh, you lost weight, how did you do it? You took the EASY way out.’ That last comment is one that hurts me. It hurt me then and it hurts me now.”
“We tried to enjoy a weekend getaway. We could barely go out in public with our son, but we still proceeded with a dolphin show for our daughter’s sake. An elderly lady passing by was so startled, we thought she might need her smelling salts. The look of disgust and judgement was evident on her face. The rage inside me boiled over. I immediately went into full-blown ‘fight or flight’ mama bear mode.”
“We were told, ‘Her numbers look good on paper, but she won’t survive.’ The cold sore virus spread. She’d never leave the hospital alive. Before they turned off all the love-sustaining machines, I said goodbye to my first and only child. I watched as she struggled to breathe and turned blue in my arms. All I could do was hold her tightly, and cry. I watched her last breath. I died with her.”
“Lucy came downstairs one night to ask if her ‘nipples should be sore.’ I instantly realized puberty was around the corner. She told her dad, who was sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME, that she needed bras. I, the one with breasts, was right there! Fast forward to Target. I explained to my boys Lucy needed some plain bras. They were shocked. ‘What are bras for? She doesn’t look different. Why does she need them? Is she starting puberty?’ By taking them, the stigma was already GONE.”
“I finally found the courage to dial those three numbers. I had my phone taken from me, which created a fight in itself. I was lucky enough to be wearing my Apple Watch which allowed me to call. The EMT looked me in the eyes. ‘Any man that puts his hands on you doesn’t love you.’ His words helped me more than he will ever know.”
“He was born just like any other baby. Until his biological mother or father had ‘shaken’ him. We were told he may never walk, talk, eat, see, or hear, and would have to be spoon fed for the rest of his life. People often ask why his skin is so dark. We get so many dirty looks. But we don’t care. We’re just so happy to give him a safe and loving home.”
“I was walking towards the store with a messy shirt, annoyed. My attitude was crappy. I was stone faced walking in. But that’s when I saw you. It’s been so long since I’ve physically seen you, but you showed up in the grocery store today. I undeniably felt you there. I loaded the baby inside, and this man turned towards me. His eyes lit up. It was your eyes. ‘Hi Puppa Marvin.’”
“When I met Danny, I had this crazy premonition one night. I said to myself, ‘This is going to be a tragedy at some point.’ Fast forward 3 years later and he was dead. The last time I saw my husband was that Saturday morning. He gave me a hug and said, ‘I love you babe.’ He left and never came back. He was found in his vehicle.”
“I heard our bedroom door shut. I thought you were just going to shower. Your body hit the floor. You were struggling. I tried to kick it in. ‘How the hell do people do this?!’ I ran downstairs and knocked on the neighbors’ doors. They didn’t answer. I was terrified. Before I could even react, EMTs were rushing upstairs. They put the flag over you.”
“At 8 years old, my pediatrician said, ‘You need to eat more salad.’ My eating disorder started to spin out of control. ‘I’m sorry my body terrifies you, it’s healthy. I refuse to hide because I’m larger than you’d like.'”
