“There were no condolences. Just business as usual. I was nearly pleading for attention now. ‘This life was important to me!’ He looked up, straight-faced and insincere. ‘Oh… sorry for your loss.’ I thought I’d somehow be getting my baby back. I needed closure.”
“I can’t remember if his favorite cereal was Honey Smacks or Fruity Pebbles. I know we had a cereal debate a while back and I’m kicking myself for not remembering how that one ended. I guess at the time, it didn’t seem important. But now I’d give anything to go back just to know the answer.”
“We woke to what we thought was Matty snoring. Something didn’t sound right. The next few hours would consist of teams of doctors coming in and out of our room with solemn faces and stumped expressions. I ugly sobbed.”
“I was ‘cured,’ right? Uh, WRONG. Without batting an eye, they start laying on the pressure. ‘Don’t you want him to be a big brother?’ I wanted answers.”
“I know you’re tired. I know you’re at your wit’s end. But mama, tonight, take a moment to look down at those babies you made. How beautiful and perfect they are. And tell them that you love them with your whole heart, and you’ll never stop. Not for an instant. No matter what.”
“They were two men made of the same cloth.”
“Two people of a different race than mine decided to willingly and openly accept me as their own. I let go, and never looked back.”
“I accidentally found out about his secret relationship when inquiring about our wills. Dating someone behind my back is singlehandedly the best gift he’s ever given me. I’m not the person I was 6 months ago.”
“On the morning of September 11th, I went into labor. You were born just before midnight, 12 years after that ominous day changed our worlds forever. How do you explain hate to a beautiful, loving, kind, newly-minted 6-year-old?”
“I took my otherwise healthy daughter to the ER for lethargy and a high fever. As I watched her rest, I heard beeping and babies crying for hours straight. I saw mamas pacing every open space. Thing is, we don’t always acknowledge the mamas who do this every day.”
