“I woke up to a call from my brother. ‘Dad is really sick. He has cancer.’ Time stood still. ‘What am I supposed to do?’ In less than 2 months, he passed. My lifestyle has brought concern to others. ‘What do you mean you’re selling everything?’ ‘How are you going to live?’ ‘What about your careers?’ I was in the midst of a breakdown.”
“When I was 21, with two babies of my own, I was in my bedroom with this heaviness on my heart. I needed to know who my birth-father was. My birth-mom was only 14 when she had me, 13 when she was pregnant. I could sense such sadness in her voice. My heart sank. ‘It is not your fault. Thank you for your strength to tell me. I love you.’”
“She called and left me a voicemail saying she didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. I cannot count how many times I listened to that voicemail. Those words stung the same each time. She was just waiting for the day I would go crawling back on my knees to her.”
“As I heard him walk outside, I spoke the words that will forever ring in my head. ‘They are calling for rain today.’ Just 3 hours later, his pants were bloody from asphalt and his striped shirt was cut off of him as the EMT’s fought to save his life. My husband walked, for the last time.”
“Our hard days look like night terrors, bed-wetting, and sleepless nights. The days are riddled with meltdowns over having to be outside where it’s too hot, too cold, too sunny, too many bugs or too ‘outsidey’. Seriously. We can’t make this stuff up.”
“They don’t see us hold the hands of a man with Parkinson’s to ease his shakes. They don’t see us sing their favorite song quietly as we feed them breakfast. They don’t see us cry as we comb the hair of a resident who has just passed so they look presentable for their family. They don’t see us go home as a broken, shattered human who has seen more in one day than most people will ever see.”
“My heart was operated on years ago. I was told pregnancy would be a risk. Now, my heart had to pump blood for 3 extra people! For the sake of my babies, I drove 7 hours for a ‘fetal reduction’. My husband and I couldn’t even look each other in the eye. 3 hours in, we started crying and decided to stop. I just couldn’t convince myself this was supposed to happen.”
“Look amazing every day, bang your husband every day, find vitamins that don’t have anything artificial in it… I MEAN WHAT? Cook for a bake sale, get involved in your kids’ school, clean ya HOUSE. Oh gosh. Shhhhh.”
“Then one day as I was sitting in my garage, the postman pulled up with a package. When he handed me the box, I immediately broke into tears. I knew before I opened it that it was from Grandpa. I could almost taste a tinge of saw dust.”
“I had so many friends watching him. It was a safe environment. After many hours at the event, I took a moment to say hi to a friend and chat for a few moments. That’s when it happened. It only takes a moment of distraction for a tragedy to happen.”
