“She kept apologizing to me thinking I was going to be upset about all of this.”
‘When your photographer don’t PLAY! She wasn’t missing THAT shot.’ Photographer pushes stepmom out of the way for interrupting the perfect first kiss photo
‘To the man with depression and anxiety. I see you. I know you worry late at night if you can’t keep it all together. If you can provide for your family.’
“You’re told to suppress your emotions. That men are the providers, the leaders, the stronger ones. I know you’ve been told that anxiety or depression are weaknesses. That men don’t get it.”
‘CPS found my son playing in the dryer. My daughter unattended, with a wet diaper and a bottle of curdled milk. Their biological mother and her boyfriend laid asleep in a bedroom with the door locked.’
“For 3 years we have been the only mothers they have known, yet we are living a nightmare.”
‘I felt something hit me from behind, specifically the right side of my butt. A group of guys were walking behind me. They snickered. I heard someone say, ‘Do it again.”
“I was wearing a long, velvet skirt – I could feel it all – and the heat of his hand.”
‘I know, without a doubt, I’ve been called to be a boy mom right here, right now. In this climate, during this time, to this generation.’
“Little girls are being inundated with the message that boys are bad. That men are not to be trusted. That instead of protecting you like they ought to, they’ll be the perpetrator.”
‘Maybe he doesn’t hit you, but he makes you apologize for getting upset after something he did to hurt you.’
“He brought you flowers on Tuesday and made you feel like a princess. Yet caused you to cry yourself to sleep on Wednesday over a ‘suspicious’ guy liking your picture.”
‘Four years ago, he had 35 children in his care. Two weeks ago, he had 58. Today he has 62. Sixty-two children to feed, clothe, protect and most of all, love.’
“One of the most recent children almost lost an eye when his abusive stepmother bit him. Now he is recovering both physically and mentally.”
‘During my Daddy’s funeral procession, led by the United States Marine Corps, my family noticed the man in this photo pulled over on the side of the road.’
“We passed many other cars that simply went about their day. My daughter did some digging and we found him.”
‘I gave birth to my first daughter when I was 21. I was in college and barely knew this baby’s father before I got pregnant. Here we are, about to be parents to 6.’
“My father’s wife passed away. They had a 2-year-old son. Biologically, he is my brother. My dad had to make the heart wrenching decision on who would be best fit to raise him.”
‘Lose the weight. I got pictures back, and my smile quickly faded. The first thought that rushed to my mind was: Lose the weight. You’re too puffy.’
“I was consumed with this overwhelming self-hate. I just wanted to feel beautiful again. You can’t. You won’t.”
