“One night, I noticed a young man who looked a little off standing outside on the patio. I approached him and introduced myself. I could tell something was wrong. After a while, he had spilled everything out to me. ‘I feel like I’m going to break down.’ He was refused rehab due to previous charges.”
“I was told by a doctor, ‘You need to accept your sons’ fate. You are severely in denial.’ I was 20 years old and terrified. I was labeled as the Mom who ‘wasn’t emotionally responding appropriately.’ The media and local news blew it up into something it wasn’t.”
“I’d spent so long thinking no one would ever love me and then when I finally found the perfect, most precious man, I had to get a poo bag? I wanted to scream and cry and throw things. On my 26th birthday, I was looking death in the face.”
“I thought he was going to die that day. I put my life on hold to be there for him every day and night. I knew he was mine.”
“I now raised a finger signaling, ‘Yes.’ This was how I communicated. I felt like a burden to my friends. An injury twisted the fate of my entire life.”
“I kept taking her picture, scared it could be the last one. I counted every eyelash, perfectly placed on her eyes. She would be the first on the West Coast to have this surgery. I didn’t want to let her go because then the decision would be final.”
“Frankie woke up complaining about his stomach. We took his temperature, and you could feel the heat radiating. I kept thinking he had contracted the virus. I could feel my heart in my throat.”
“I was pitied and hid behind an uncomfortable wig every day, consumed with anxiety someone would find out my secret. One day, I decided I didn’t want to live in shame anymore. ‘Shave it all off,’ I told my husband. I wanted to live my truth.”
“‘WHAT IS GOING ON?’ Everyone was screaming. My friend fell and was getting trampled. I worried for my unborn child. When the second plane hit, we ran.”
“For seven days, she was a medical mystery.”
