“I remember riding the train and I felt like a stranger was living in my body. I didn’t feel like myself… I felt like my world was constantly spinning, I was beyond exhausted, no matter how much I slept, and I often found myself wearing sunglasses because the light bothered me so much. Before this, I didn’t even own a pair. I got a call from the Urgent Care. ‘You tested positive for Lyme Disease. You need to come get you an antibiotic.’”
“Around 4 p.m., I texted Becca to see if she was on her way. No reply. No big deal. At exactly 4:30, something changed. ‘I am sending someone to find you if you don’t call me back.’ It was as if every cell, idea, known fact in the universe shifted for me. It wasn’t of this world.”
“I lived in 2 different worlds. Five days a week I was in a picture-perfect home with a beautiful stay-at-home mom. But the remaining 2 days, I was in survival mode. I remember watching the clock tick by, counting down the time I had left in my safe haven before I’d have to get in the car and enter my second world. My biological dad had trained me well, so I kept his secrets. I’d stare at the window in my bedroom, hands on the frame, trying to build enough courage to slip out of it and run.”
“I was infertile, on birth control, had my period, and broken up with my boyfriend. There was absolutely NO WAY I was pregnant… right? I was absolutely out of my mind, crying, laughing.”
“My brother knew he had a problem. He hated it. He hated it so much he stopped it all and moved back home right beside my mom. He told her he wanted to be closer to his family. That he felt so lost without us. He had such a big, kind heart. SO forgiving. Too forgiving. A month before he overdosed, he was baptized. He died with his Bible open right next to him.”
“I was given an examination and told I was only 3 centimeters dilated. At this stage I was already starting to feel sweaty and sick at the thought of this pain for days. I couldn’t even fathom it. I thought she had to be joking.”
“The anxiety was starting to kick in. I had dreamt about watching Michelle walk down the aisle since I was 17 years old. When she broke up with me in high school, it shattered me. Now I was about to ask my dream girl to be my wife. ‘John, I can’t find the ring,’ my mom said via text in response to a message I sent her – letting her know we were about 45 minutes away. I. FREAKED. OUT.”
“As we approached the cemetery, I unexpectedly started crying. I’d spent so many painful, isolating days here. I hated this place. It had become a prison within my mind. The emotion hit me, and Shelly grabbed my hand. It took time for us to find Dana’s grave. I started to feel panicked, surprised I had lost the ability to walk right to it. Shelly gave me a big hug as I was, once again, overcome with emotion. I felt a sense of freedom, finally at peace.”
“My husband drove me down to the waterfront, my idea of motherhood now a pile of dust and rubble. Was I really made for this? We’d both been crying for several hours. He opened the envelope. ‘It’s a girl!’ his voice cracked. When they wheeled her away, we gave our final kisses. No matter how long she was with us, Shirley was a gift.”
“It was roughly 3 years after our 17-month-old son Bennett died. I stood there in shock in the midst of chasing my 1-year old toddler around in the August heat. Was this how people now saw me? Would this be how I would be introduced going forward? ‘Oh, hi, I’m Sheri, nice to meet you. My mom died when I was 16, my son died 5 years ago, oh and my dad just passed, so I guess that leaves me an adult orphan. Nice to meet you.’”
