“A few months later, I could barely walk. My hips popped out of their socket every time I stood up. The pain was excruciating. I’d turn down social invitations and dates out of fear for my appearance. I had major brain fog and my memory was non-existent. The OBGYN assured, ‘This procedure is WAY better.’ Countless others said it topped the ‘older method.’ In hindsight, I should never have agreed to it.”
“I cheated my way out, really believing the worst was over. That lasted 12 hours. My mom took me to the supermarket to buy a birthday cake for my friend. I stood in the cake aisle and started to panic. I couldn’t do it. I was so consumed by it, even looking at the cake felt like something I’d have to punish myself for. I left the story empty-handed and in tears. I didn’t think I’d live to see my 15th birthday.”
“Today when I was met with a disproving look, one of shock and full of judgement about her not wanting to toilet train. I confidently shook my head and I proudly said, ‘She will do it. In her own time.'”
“‘I’m ‘chickening out. I can’t do it.’ My dad was holding the door open when I took ONE step and froze. Something shifted in my back like it never had. I had some ‘colorful language’ and said, ‘Let’s go.’ Tears in my eyes, I signed my name on the black line. 8 hours later, I woke up screaming. ‘I can’t do this! Ow! The pain! Ow! PUT ME IN A COMA! I CAN’T DO THIS!’ The meds weren’t working. My mom was rushed in.”
“When I walked in, she hugged me. I whispered in her ear, ‘Don’t f*@King ask how I’ve been, because I’ve been better. Now can we please do something about my gray hairs.’ The worst is always ‘time will heal.’ You think every day for the rest of my life I won’t think about her and it won’t break my heart all over again?’ It sends me into an internal rage.”
“When my mom died, I was alone – I was like a cork bobbing in the ocean with no direction.”
“The daydreams of twenty-something freedom felt gone. We were just another measured ‘teen mother’ statistic that pigeonholed our future. I was scared and unsure, but my husband never doubted. We didn’t just decide to rock the boat. We decided to sell the ‘boat’ and trade it for a set of wings, a huge dose of optimism, and faith in the unknown future.”
“I’m not talking about romantic love. I’m not talking about the boo hoo’s of a bad break-up. I’m talking the pain of staring into the blank eyes of your child who you would die for, literally die, and never knowing if or what they feel in return.”
“As you both passed the side of my car, your son, still trying to catch up with your pace, made contact with mine. My son threw his cup and flung his head back in frustration. He couldn’t tell me what he needed; he is non-verbal. He didn’t know someone had noticed him, someone called him his friend.”
“My 6-year-old’s pediatrician stared him straight in the eyes and ordered, ‘You stay away from cigarettes. Your lungs can’t handle it.’ There are some struggling who didn’t choose this fight. Let’s not forget them. The air you exhale is the same air we breathe.”
