“I met a guy recently orphaned, and left to care for his 21-year-old brother with special needs. My stepmother said, ‘He’ll never make anything of himself.’ I’m glad I didn’t listen.”
- Love What Matters
- Health
“I met a guy recently orphaned, and left to care for his 21-year-old brother with special needs. My stepmother said, ‘He’ll never make anything of himself.’ I’m glad I didn’t listen.”
“I used to pride myself on being a hardworking, independent go-getter. It’s been a shock to have to let things go. It’s like a strong hangover, but there was no fun last night, no choice in the matter, and it won’t go away after a good sleep.”
“At our 20-week ultrasound, we received the news our son’s femurs looked short, in addition to smaller arms. The kicker was he wasn’t fitting any specific mold. ‘We can’t say definitively if he’ll make it or not.’ I leaned on my faith more than ever.”
“My therapist couldn’t fit my hours. I didn’t bother finding a new one because, ‘I’m fine!’ Then, I hoped the floor would open up and I would just disappear. These awful, yellow, smiley hospital socks were staring up at me.”
“‘Let me see her eyes. Please please, let Maverick meet her alive.’ Before I knew it, I heard, ‘Happy Birthday!’ Huh? She’s here? Why don’t I hear crying? I couldn’t see anything beside the ceiling, doctors moving around. ‘Is she breathing? Is she?’ Tears were flowing from my eyes. She smiled at her brother and her daddy. She waited until we got one more kiss.”
“Driving him home was an out of body experience. I have driven those interstates many times in the past, but never had I driven someone I love to die.”
“The doorbell rang at 6 a.m. I opened the door to see my mom standing between two policemen, muddy and handcuffed. She’d call me ‘Bucky,’ knowing I was self-conscious about my teeth. When I was 19 and getting married, no mom. When I was 20 and having my first baby, no mom. I had the same phone number for several years, but she never dialed it again.”
“I screamed in agony, convinced they would soon be bringing me back my tiny baby with looks of ‘there’s nothing we can do’ in their eyes. ‘His lungs are bad. Nothing is off the table.’ I kept asking for clarification about what ‘nothing’ meant.”
“When I was first diagnosed with PCOS, it was something I had never even heard of. I thought the doctor had to be wrong. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m guilty of keeping our secret for far too long.”
“The waiting was the hardest part. Watching your child deteriorate, lose their hair, weight, and energy while you sit back hopelessly forever changes you as a person. ‘They found a match.’ I knew she had a fighting chance to survive.”