“Within 24 hours, I was being prepped for emergency surgery. My uterus was growing up and outwards and had completely cut off my uretha and bladder. ‘This is life-threatening to you and your twins.’ We were told to brace ourselves for the loss of both babies. I woke up to a large incision from my breast to my pelvis.”
“At 9, they’ve already commented on her body, her face, her clothes, her family. Those words don’t hurt me because I know they’re not true. I know she’s enough. What kills me is how she believes the naysayers of the world instead of her mama, the person who knows her best.”
“Even skin conditions you have no control over will have people asking you questions about your ability to ‘keep yourself.’ I said I would make it my mission to spend 30 days working on body acceptance. When the 30 days were up, I got some horrible news. I realized, it’ll take more than 30 days to do.”
“He would be so confused as to why he was restrained and had a tube down his throat. I stood bedside, looking at my strong boy who was now lifeless. My world came crashing down. I reflected on how I was going to help my strong dude recover.”
“As a child, you always told me, ‘While I gave birth to your three brothers, it was you I picked.’ You loved me just as much as the three sons you birthed from your own body.”
“I waited nervously for the audible gasps. ‘Have you tried washing your face?’ I was the class guinea pig. I always assumed people were laughing at me.’’
“Like 19-year-old me. The girl who wore diamonds in her hair to the party that night. The night. The night it happened. He was my friend I took to the party. He knew I was falling for his friend.”
“In fact, quarantine has stripped us of most of the support systems and coping mechanisms we’ve always used to manage our anxiety in the past. And it’s placed us exactly where a person who struggles with anxiety least wants to be – alone with their thoughts.”
“This was not an easy task. We know they have more energy than we have after drinking three cups of coffee. This was going to be a challenge. We wanted to find something they would all be interested in and would last for years.”
“This is action.”
