“I was at a routine appointment. As the lady walked into the room, she smiled, repeated herself, and that’s when I realized, she didn’t know two of my children died.”
‘How are the kids?’ I gave her a puzzled look, wondering if I heard her correctly. My heart began to race and my breathing became faster. Tears erupted as my mind instantly flashed back to 3 years ago.’
‘Unfortunately I see something here that could be a problem. I saw my mother-in-law’s face. She knew. We both knew something was off. I wanted to disappear.’
“I kept saying to myself nothing was wrong. I had seen the baby move and he looked perfectly beautiful and strong. When the doctor came in, I saw her face. With a serious look she asked me if I was alone.”
‘His teacher suddenly jumped on the desk. He started walking across each one, to make sure every single eye was on him.’: Teacher gives important message to classroom about equality
“I’ll never forget when he had them throw their history books on the ground and tell them how they got it all wrong that day, and made choices that would come back to haunt them.”
‘We were going to be parents of two children and we weren’t sure if one would survive. As the doctor pulled Vivian out of me, we held our breath as we waited to hear if she would cry.’
“We were happy because we were finally going to find out the genders of our sweet babies, but we were terrified because this appointment would confirm if something was truly wrong.”
‘Who should wear the mommy bracelet?,’ the nurse asked. ‘Jessica. She’s her mommy.’ She placed the bracelet around my wrist, and handed me my daughter.’: Mom reflects on journey to adoption, ‘Love built our family’
“I wanted to be able to tell my daughter that she threw her head back when she laughed. How she dipped her fries in mayonnaise, but mostly how much she loved her. How she begged me to make sure my daughter always knew.”
‘I’m done helping you, brother. You had kids, and we all thought it would change you. It won’t be me who funds your final hit.’: Man shares emotional journey through brother’s battle with addiction
“When he would chase me around the apartment with a shotgun, I thought it was normal. When he confronted me about scabs and boils all over his body, I thought he needed to go to a clinic – maybe he had an STD?”
‘I still love you.’ When he was 13, he told me he was pansexual. I wasn’t sure what steps I should take as his mother.’: Mom of pansexual son encourages others ‘to celebrate our similarities and differences’
“I wanted to prove to Adrian that there is support for him beyond what he saw. Most people have heard that a number of transgender people will attempt suicide. Regardless, this is simply not a risk I was willing to take.”
‘Hi, I was 5 minutes away from calling you.’ Our baby’s heart was not sitting on the left side of her chest, but shifted to the right side. My stomach dropped with those words.’
“Silently, he began drawing on a blank piece of paper. When he was done, he turned to us, showed us his drawing, and began explaining what our future would look like. I started bawling. But we knew we needed to do it.”
‘As I wheeled away, I was squeezing the hand of a stranger. Finally, my husband was allowed in. ‘She’s beautiful,’ nurses said as they whisked her away. She never cried.’
“I will never forget going to get a pedicure on our anniversary. I thought, ‘Okay, this will be a time to relax,’ then in walks a woman, 34 weeks pregnant, due just around when I was supposed to be due. She was glowing and I was sinking… fast.”
‘Extreme people pleaser here. I’m addicted. It’s desperate, honestly. ‘Will they like me?’ ‘Do they want me?’ ‘Did I say something stupid?’
“Not in a ‘Ohhhhh, she is so sweet! She just takes care of the people around her’ kind of way. But in a ‘I’m addicted, and I don’t know how to function without it’ kind of way. It’s not good. Not for me. Not for my family. Not for my friends. I don’t want their approval. I need their approval.”