“I married at 20. I would dutifully serve him only to beg, ‘Please come home.’ His answer was no. He had party plans with celebrities. I was never on his radar. After losing two babies, he emotionally abandoned me. It was the beginning of the end. But the universe, in all her wisdom, had other plans for me. It was our time.”
“You see the imperfections. I see a woman who deserves to feel beautiful in whatever she chooses to wear.”
“We always expect our kids with special needs to learn how to live in a world that wasn’t made for them, but we never ask the people around them to learn more about how to live in theirs.”
“A monarch butterfly landed on me. He just sat there, pulsing his beautiful wings — for what seemed hours. ‘You again?’ I said. ‘God, I miss you,’ I whispered…to a damn butterfly. It’s been 2 years, and I’m still looking.”
“I told him we’d need to let our social worker know his change in medical status. He broke down. We presented seven times. Seven no’s. I was discouraged.”
“We didn’t know everything we needed to know when Josie was born. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. We acknowledged we needed to educate ourselves.”
“I didn’t feel like I could give them what they needed. I wasn’t enough. I was telling myself these lies they were better off somewhere else. But I couldn’t make that choice. I couldn’t give up my children!”
“‘That’s it right there! That’s what I like to see.’ Me interacting as a human and not a police officer, is what the community wants to see. I hadn’t felt that much peace in a long time.”
“‘I’m not even sure you will get pregnant.’ It felt like the air had left the room. Why couldn’t my body do what it was made to do? ‘If it doesn’t work this time I can’t do this anymore.’ I hit rock bottom.”
“Jason ended up in the ER. Within hours, we were told, ‘He has a 5-7 years left to live.’ Or so we thought. Only 14 months later, I’d attend a grief camp with my kids where I would meet Jason #2. We kept our relationship secret, at my request. I adored him. I was nervous whether my in-laws and friends would accept my new love.”
