“I remember being in 5th grade, staying up late pouring over freshly printed car brochures to help him memorize car facts for a car salesman job. I will never forget the smell of those damn brochures. He was depressed. One night he cried, confessing to me he thought of ending his life.”
“My son had an energy drink then sat to enjoy his evening with his family. I was taking my shower when the call came in. It was my son’s fiancée. She rarely calls me, and was panicked. ‘Has Buddy ever had a seizure?’ I said, ‘No! Why do you ask?’ She stated, ‘I think he is having a seizure!’ He wasn’t sick. He had no health issues. His toxicology report came back negative to everything except stimulants.”
“There were more seizures, and this time it was Infantile spasms. He paused before asking, ‘Have you ever heard of this?’ My heart nearly stopped. There was no way. When we were matched with a puppy, they were instantly at peace. We knew, they were made for each other.”
“I was asked hundreds of questions. All of them, about my baby. When a baby is born, so is a mother. So, ask us too, and ask us often, ‘Is everything okay?’”
“As soon as I picked up my 5-year-old, I could tell she was in one of her ‘moods.’ She was crying over everything, not being herself, and acting so uptight. So, I drew her a lavender bubble bath, gave her a face mask, and lit some candles.”
“I remember being hesitant. I wasn’t depressed, I was simply a mother longing for the children I would no longer hold in my arms. But, I’m the mother of two children who died, and I faced my own near-death experience, so I promised my husband I would see someone.”
“By the time he was 2 weeks old, it had tripled in size. Then we got the worst news. The lump wasn’t just a lump. It was a tumor and it was cancerous. As my husband drove, I completely broke down.”
“To others, I was in need of fixing. All my behaviors were deemed ‘wrong.’ In an attempt to make me more masculine and ‘grow out of it,’ I was placed in sports. I feared what I would face if I decided to be true to myself.”
“He asked me, ‘Is everything ok?’ I tried to answer him, but weird sounds came out.”
“When a new lady comes around with her cafeteria tray and every seat is already taken, this is a great misfortune. As a special needs mother, my children have taught me many things, but staying open for the ones who don’t look like me is at the top of the list.”
