“When Mitchell got the bottle out of the cabinet, I froze. What if we give her too much and she overdoses and dies? I was terrified of giving her Tylenol, and broke down in tears as my baby wailed in pain. I felt too paralyzed by my own horrifying thoughts to do anything about it.”
“This journey has taken me 10 years, countless appointments, oceans of tears, and an entire community.”
“I was introduced to heroin. Heroin invited meth, meth invited fentanyl, and pretty soon, it was just one big, drugged out party of hell. I was sleeping in abandoned houses, porches, outdoor elevators, dumpster enclosures, and sidewalks. I had boils all over my arms and legs, and the wound on my back was highly infected. I smelled like death.”
“He has changed me into a better person, a better mother. He is my hero.”
“She smiled and laughed the whole way home. For a whole day, people saw her like we do—as so much more than just a girl in her wheelchair.”
“Health is personal and subjective. That’s why this is all about BALANCE.”
“My safety was placed so far below that of my babies. I spent several hours requesting a c-section. I asked. My parents asked. My husband asked. But the decision came down to one doctor, who I’d never met before that day. And I was only a hairsbreadth away from losing my life.”
“I worried I might purposely light a match and burn the house to the ground with my family inside. I worried I might purposely push my best friend into traffic. The thoughts began to get so frightening I’d wake up every morning and try to create a version of white noise inside my own head to block out any thoughts for as long as I could.”
“When the news of Roe vs. Wade came out, I began to weep uncontrollably. My heart went to the 19-year-old girl in the same situation right now I once was in. Feeling hopeless and suicidal, but now on top of that being forced to do something against her will. Not having an option, a choice over her BODY which her soul chose specifically for her journey.”
“I’d spend my mornings crying, screaming, begging to stay home. My mental health was declining, my anxiety rising, my depression and self-loathing looming like a black cloud. I was terrified to go to school. The people were mean, the teachers didn’t understand me, and the work was too hard. I was falling behind, and at that point, I didn’t care anymore. I was the odd one out, with no support.”
