“We begin making more small talk. ‘You mentioned you’ve been married twice. What happened with your second wife?’ Manny sat straight up in his chair and looked me in the eye. ‘Well, sadly, she died as well…’ By now I’m thiking, ‘Oh my gosh, I could end up in the back of his trunk.’ Our server hands us our food. We just sat there across from each other in silence.”
“I ran away from home. I was hiding in a stranger’s garage while my mom and police looked for me. I used a stranger’s phone to call The Pates. ‘I can’t go home, can you help me?’ I feared my mother. The next day she drove me to their house, dumped my belongings at the bottom of their driveway, and left. So, at the age of 32, I was adopted. I got a new birth certificate and everything.”
“We walked by the jewelry section. I spotted the prettiest emerald ring. Manny said, ‘nice stuff’. I said, ‘yes, the emerald is gorgeous.’ He said, ‘Thanks, we are just looking.’ I made a bee line over to the jewelry case to find the ring later. It wasn’t there. I couldn’t believe it. ‘I’m sorry, right as you left, another couple came by and bought it.’ I get in the car, not speaking to him.”
“I’ve been to my mom’s grave twice. In 20 years. You won’t find a single photo of her in my home. I know this wasn’t her fault. It doesn’t change the effects her illnesses have had on me. None of it changes that her 60th birthday is not a birthday at all, because she is dead. I want to honor her, I really do. But I can’t face the woman who tried to break me.”
“Social media sees me on a Caribbean island right now, drinking fruity drinks, floating in the ocean. While everyone was still waking up, I walked the beach. I was angry. I need more answers than that! Moments later, I found a beat-up dime floating in the ocean. I cried painful tears. ‘This is what I am doing to you.'”
“We rushed to the doctor. I was sadly met with little concern. ‘There is nothing we can do. Let nature take its course, what will be, will be!’ I chose the natural route. I wanted to keep her with me for as long as possible. A scan showed the baby had grown further, but her heart remained still. ‘No Zoe, sadly your baby hasn’t miraculously come back to life. Yes, we know you had hoped it would happen.’”
“I was ‘infertile,’ had zero pregnancy symptoms, and had my period every month. I even took 2 pregnancy tests weeks before and they both came back negative! I was in a bathroom at my sister-in-law’s house, thinking I had period cramps. ‘Whaaaaa!’ I pushed again and somehow had a placenta in my hand. ‘How is this real?!’ It all happened so fast.”
“The room filled with smoke. ‘MOVE AWAY FROM THE DOOR.’ I saw a very dim light. ‘If you can see me, come towards the light.’ I passed out. He contacted me on the 17-year anniversary of the fire. At first, I thought it was a scam. ‘Hi Vanessa, this is the firefighter from 17 years ago. I think about you often.’ We owe our lives to him. I had to let him know our big news. I’m pregnant with a son, and he’ll soon have a namesake.”
“I started dating Matt, my future husband, and quickly learned he lived with his grandmother. I didn’t want Nana to think less of me. But several months into our relationship, she bought new sheets and extra pillows for Matt’s bed — point taken!”
“Our father, who wasn’t around for our life, provided her a hotel room on Christmas Eve. While she was thankful for that, we could never understand how he could let her be homeless. We could never understand his non-emotion. My dearest sister was left to die in the cold.”
