“Rather than bring an innocent child into this world only to suffer and die, we made the heart-wrenching decision no parent should ever have to make. I am not an irresponsible monster. I am a grieving mother who spared her baby unspeakable suffering.”
“Many humans sleepwalk through their lives. I feel the wild euphoria of my child putting on a sock.”
“At 2 a.m. this morning, as my daughter snuggled into me, I told her stories about bunnies, fields of flowers… Nothing worked. We are protective about what our tender-hearted children see. We are cautious. When I was 9, I watched a movie that traumatized me around the same age. We will not toughen her up.”
“I’ve gained 30 pounds during quarantine. I can’t button my pants anymore. It’s hard to look in the mirror. And I’ve been stuck at my home with nothing but my thoughts and my new adult body.”
“At 36 years old, my life is on the upswing. Who would have thought? I have no reason to cry.”
“I’ve stood with a mother before a judge so she had someone to support her. I’ve rocked a child far too big for hours until they collapsed from exhaustion. NOTHING can prepare you for the heaviness. This can’t be about you.”
“We take in a million messages putting us into good old-fashioned fight or flight. It’s legitimately exhausting. I do not have a drop of ‘trying my best’ left in me.”
“People said my 22-year-old daughter and I looked like sisters, and I thought I was giving that up. I decided I was grateful to be the age I was because aging is not a privilege everyone gets.”
“The doctor looked worried. ‘I can’t find a heartbeat.’ I asked, ‘Both of them?’ It had been over 3 years and yet, we still had not let go. Until we got a call about a mom who wanted to meet us.”
“It’s strange how love works.”
