“I watched as another widow buried her husband. My heart ached for her. When I looked at her, I could see a reflection of myself. Unsteady and unsure. Overwhelmed. And so very afraid. It took my breath away. I couldn’t wait for it all to be over. They don’t tell you just how heavy it is.”
“Each patient gets a blue and a pink hat. She pulled out a blue one to hand to me. ‘It’s strange. There weren’t any pink ones in there. I don’t know if you believe in signs, but there’s no way the baby you’re carrying is a girl. Absolutely no way!’ I’ve only carried 4 girls. To me, there was no way this baby could be a boy. I wanted nothing more than to give my little brother we adopted a brother.”
“If you’re sitting at the table where the topic of discussion is someone else’s shortcomings, mistakes, imperfections, flaws, or lawd the he said she said gossip, GIRL. GET A NEW TABLE. I assure you that when you leave your seat, you’re likely the next topic of conversation.”
“I let down my guard, slammed with the sudden realization he is gone. My daughters stood on the edge of the balcony and watched as the world ended, watched as their parents begged to trade places with their little brother. He slipped away from us, down a spiral staircase, and fell into the pool.”
“Keep being a nice person. But don’t get hurt repeatedly and believe there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll regret a lot of things in life, but I assure you, responding to someone with kindness, grace and love will never be one of them. Also, you’ll sleep an awful lot better at night.”
“You’ll study her face and worry. What if she gets lost in the hall? What if she doesn’t make a single friend? What if she doesn’t think about you at all? Does she know every sandwich, every pool day, every morning we snuggled in bed, I didn’t want to be anywhere else? It’ll feel like forever ’til you see her little face on that sidewalk, but I guarantee you, it’ll be smiling. She’s a different kid. She grew up today.”
“The doctor walked in and bluntly said, ‘Welp, you have a broken back.’ My promising college baseball career was over. My girlfriend broke up with me. The crutches in my life that helped me ignore how unhappy I was with my body were GONE. My moment of clarity didn’t come from a diet fad. It came in a ‘toilet moment’. I was simply disgusted with myself.”
“Out of nowhere, he grabbed my hands, looked me in the eyes and said every kind thing I’d hoped to hear. I asked where this sudden conviction came from. He replied, ‘Because I’ve been lying to you… there’s more.’ At that moment, time stood still. A family member of hers had texted us letting us know she had missed her period, and was concerned of pregnancy.”
“As I’m consoling my daughter who is on the verge of tears, the mother swam over to me and began shouting at me to not speak to her children like that. I won’t lie, I saw red. That was it for me.”
“To the girl in love with an addict, I saw you sit in your car alone at halftime and breakdown. I see you and your fake smile. Don’t worry, they all still believe you’re fine. You’ve gotten so good at crying hard, getting it all out fast, and getting back to your seat before anyone even realizes you’re gone. Please don’t let him make you think his addiction is your fault. This has nothing to do with you at all. You deserve better than this.”
