“Today, I lost it. Finito. Buh-bye. GONE. I could feel my nerves fraying at the seams and in true me fashion, I cried. This is what no one tells you about. The hard stuff. If a friend shares her truth and says she’s in a funk, don’t tell her your life is sunshine and rainbows. Tell her you’re in the freaking arena with her.”
“The mom was gathering an unholy ton of luggage, and had turned away for just a moment. She looked up with absolute horror. People were suddenly shoulder to shoulder, crammed like sardines. I bent down to a sweet, terrified girl. Quiet tears fell before the shaking of her small sobs could be heard. There was no police. No security guard. No one, but her.”
“When summer began, she bawled every day asking for them. I thought her heart might stop when she saw them; mine sure did. She ran through that shop and jumped into their arms.”
“Trying on my wedding dress, I sensed tension with my boyfriend’s daughter. My mind raced, and I pulled her aside. ‘I’m not trying to replace your mom.’ I never expected to start a family like this.”
“He bowed up and said, ‘That’s not true! It’s not true! Love doesn’t lie to us.’ So we talked.”
“Insulin was $1,300 a month. My son left the pharmacy empty-handed. He lasted only 27 days without insurance. I’d been to my fare share of funerals, but nothing prepares you for the death of your child.”
“I got engaged today! But we’ll get to that part later. Let me set the stage. On what was supposed to be one of the best days of my life, I was chased out by security who followed us all the way to the parking lot.”
“It took them two days to find my white car in all the fresh snow. Surprisingly, nothing was broken. Once thing’s seemed to be falling into place, that’s when my first seizure happened. I went face down onto the hardwood floor.”
“At that moment, I had given up. I knew if he took my life, I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain and suffering he had caused me for so long. In the split second that I had come to terms with what was going to happen, the gun fell from his hand and hit the floor. He slammed the door open, and left.”
“The truth is, I’ve forgotten how to be her, and as much as I hate that fact, it’s real. Mothers don’t need empty advice. We need others to care for us. It’s the first step.”
