“On a rushed morning, I threw her a tank top and asked her to get dressed. She quietly asked me for a different shirt. Oblivious and in a hurry, I said, ‘Why? You love that one. Just put it on, we gotta go.’ Tears formed in her eyes.”
‘A boy told me I shouldn’t wear shirts that show my scars. He said they are scary. I just want to be normal,’ she sobbed.’
‘Why the hell would you take a photo of me at that angle?,’ I said after I saw this photo in my husband’s phone. I became so self-conscious.’
“I once had a girl tell me that my dress would look better if I had some Spanx on – I had a cesarean 3 three months prior to that. I loved the way I looked in that dress.”
‘He said, ‘I know she can’t go home,’ and was quiet the rest of the ride. Dad couldn’t get his coat off fast enough. He sat beside her, so happy to see her, saying how much he loved her.’
“She was staring straight ahead. That didn’t matter to him. He was back with his Mary Jane. I noticed it was quiet. I look over and Dad is laying on her shoulder sobbing – not crying, sobbing. After my tears started, I went in their bathroom wanted to scream. So these are the golden years?”
‘I lied to my husband for the last time. He found out I’d been using drugs again, took the kids and left. I was devastated. I begged him to come back, but he was done.’
“I had a miscarriage. Thus began my spiral downward. I was chasing the numbness. I would hide packets of pills around the house anywhere I could, on shelves behind clothes, in boxes, drawers, cupboards, even in my kids’ rooms – anywhere.”
‘I told him I wanted his ring. He must’ve had enough, because he handed it to me. Oh, hell no. I did what every non-reasonable, pregnant, insane woman would do.’
“I followed him. Oh yes, I waddled after him, appalled he would give me his ring, even though I demanded it. By the time I caught up to him, he was already in his car. So, I did the next most non-reasonable thing I could think of. I THREW it.”
‘At 19, I’d fallen in love with my childhood boyfriend. Who was dying. And he’d fallen in love with me. We valued every aspect of the cliché ‘live each day like it’s your last.’
“Dating consisted of watching movies from a remote-controlled bed. Holding a bucket while he got sick day in and day out. Wrapping him in warm blankets while working on my college assignments against the window. We vowed to do every thing, side-by-side, for every day after. The thought of that still wrecks me to my core.”
‘Royce had been playing on the bed. He fell. We ran up to see a stranger doing CPR on our perfect 20-month-old nephew’: Family keeps faith after losing nephew from tragic fall
“My husband always says, ‘It’s going to be okay. My husband dropped to his knees. I could hear the sirens. I grabbed and hugged my sister-in-law, trying to face her away from the horror. We were all in the worst kind of shock. This was not happening, not Royce. It could not be our perfect Royce.”
‘I SAVED HIS LIFE! I found a slight pulse. I’m doing CPR!’ My dad has always gone the extra mile. Even for our dog’s beloved teddy bear.’
“Where the hell did you get that thing? ‘He’s not a ‘thing!’ I found one of Lucky’s babies outside. I saved HIS life.”
‘I told him his grandfather was dying. ‘He doesn’t look good, and may not recognize you.’ He said, ‘that’s fine Mom, I’ll just sit with him then.’ I looked over, and saw this.’
“An hour later, my brother called me. ‘Meghan I just found dad in the bathroom, he isn’t responsive.’ ‘Facetime me, let me try and talk to him!’ ‘No Meghan, I’m telling you, there’s something wrong.’ The image of my dad is something I’ll never forget.”
‘In public she’d scream, ‘Don’t touch me! Who are you!? HELP!!!’ We saw professionals, only to be dismissed. ‘She’ll grow out of it.’
“He told me, ‘Go ahead and try to leave b***h, you’re nothing. Nobody will believe you.’ I discovered I was pregnant. This was my worst nightmare, but also a glimpse of hope. He started using heroin. When she came, she brought me power. ‘If you try to leave me and take her, I will kill us all.'”
