“He gave us forehead kisses. ‘Byeee Charlotte, daddy loves you,’ and backed out of the driveway. My phone rang. I remember answering to hear concern on the other end. ‘What’s Brandon doing?,’ they asked. ‘Oh, he’s out on a bike ride!’ There was a long pause.”
“‘If my arm didn’t stop me from being a great mom to my biological child, why would it stop me from being a great foster mom?’ I was advised to give up because of my disability. I was heartbroken and had no rights.”
“My girlfriend of 9 months was pregnant. ‘I need to tell you something.’ She slid a card across the table. As soon as I opened it, I saw pink and started tearing up. I was disappointed in myself and embarrassed I was careless. I had always dreamed this moment would be joyous. It was not.”
“‘Of course, honey.’ I smiled to him, stuffing down my feelings of wanting to explode. He smiled and thanked the man, who shook his hand and smiled back. Then, as we asked our waiter to take our bill, he said it was taken care of. Paid for. In full.”
“What would happen to Easton? Who would raise him? Where would he go? How do you figure this out in just a few days’ time? Something told me to step up. ‘You’re supposed to be his mom. Tell your dad. Tell him now.’ I tried for an entire day to quiet this voice, but it kept pushing. It felt like the most insane thing to tell my dying father.”
“I don’t want you to say, ‘OMG, YOU LOOK GREAT!’ I don’t want you to say, ‘GOOD FOR YOU!’ I want you to know why I’m wearing a dress I have no business wearing.”
“He was admitted to the hospital ‘just to do some routine stuff’ since he was young for such a high fever. I didn’t love the idea, but I was willing to do whatever was needed. Then something unexpected happened. Trevor started screaming. The nurse reached for the ‘Code Blue’ button on the wall.”
“‘I think so too, hun,’ I said. I’ve known far longer than she has that she’s gay. The entire conversation, one she will likely forget by the time her first girlfriend asks about her coming out story, was just 18 words.”
“I needed someone to tell in case I went ‘missing.’ Our house was in the middle of a hill, covered by woods. ‘Mom, please come.’ With the highest anxiety I’d ever felt in my life, I slowly closed the door. This was it. My goodbye after 13 years. My kids smiled in the backseat, oblivious. ‘Go!’ I turned off my location and watched in the mirror as we drove away.”
“When my son’s best friend passed from cancer, he said, ‘Mom, he spent so much time in the hospital that he didn’t get the chance to be a kid. He didn’t even get to go fishing!’ You see, Jake’s passion is fishing. He’s been doing it since he was 5 and it’s grown to be his absolute favorite activity. ‘Mom, kids fighting cancer should get to fish!’ I told him he should do something about that, and so he did. Ryan made my son feel like he belonged. He wanted to do for cancer patients what Ryan did for him.”
