“A close friend asked, ‘Can you be a bridesmaid at my wedding?’ I realized I couldn’t do it with my usual head coverings. The whole time at the wig shop, I cried. With each one I tried on, I felt like I was giving up, forced to resign, like I was surrendering to a new life with no hope.”
“When I woke up, I had lost sensation completely in my left leg, and I lost control of my bladder. The pain was excruciating.”
“As you buy the backpack, and the crayons, and do all the school preparation things, please do the most important thing.”
“After a few months my periods stopped completely, I gained 30 pounds, and was constantly bloated. If you don’t make time to take care of your health, you will be forced to take time off for your illness.”
“Everything was going great until 7th grade in 2014.”
“I never thought I’d make it this far. I never thought I’d be able to write the words ‘I feel safe’ and mean it. I have come so far from the broken, hollow girl who sat in the corner and rarely spoke.”
“She has a safe place to be ‘one of the kids’ without prejudice or cruelty, provided by the unlikeliest of motley crews!”
“Life completely flip-flopped on me. I was so depressed and mad at my body, I began to self-harm out of frustration. It took me a while to see value in myself again.”
“I was 12 when my mom died. My youngest sibling was a baby, just learning how to walk. It was Easter and she was taken by a brain aneurysm. Gone. At 35. No explanation. I successfully blocked it out of my mind for 20+ years. Attempting to protect my heart. It worked…until it didn’t.”
“Next thing I know I’m looking at myself from the ceiling. I’m lying on an operation table. There’s 8 of me. The room keeps spinning. There’s a team working on each copy of me. They’re trying to put me to sleep. They keep telling me to relax. And I’m screaming.”
