“My younger self was so happy and full of life. Her smile was genuine and her eyes glistened with hope. Her little laugh radiated so much joy. She was beautiful and unafraid. No meal was too big and no mountain was too high to overcome. She deserved so much more than who I became.”
“I found him talking in the laundry room at our apartment complex with a woman from his job. She was there letting him know she was also pregnant. I felt like vomiting. There I was, a young, scared, single mom homeless and couch surfing, starting her life ‘alone.’ I knew I had to get out.”
“I say, ‘You’re not a bad person.’ I hold my boyfriend in my arms, feeling his normally strong chest shake uncontrollably with giant, heart wrenching sobs. There’s nothing I can do, except hold him tighter.”
“‘Sir, can you take it to a hospital?’ He pulled his truck past me and tipped his hat. ‘Hail nawl, little lady. That thang is all on you.’ Pretty soon I was standing alone, next to my car, with a half-dead thing in a shoe box that was IN MY HANDS. I was hyperventilating. This was not okay.”
“Every single day, she would give me a hug, tell me how special I was, and tell me to have a great day. I thought I was treated special. I was wrong. There were hundreds of comments that told the same story.”
“We cried and prayed. We said yes right away. Then we got a call to see if we wanted to foster-to-adopt a 1-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl.”
“People really love to paint the dream it isn’t. It’s always a simple message that declares lifelong love. Marry the person who will see you fart and pick your nose, who won’t care if you’ve gained 50 pounds.”
“I said, ‘Something is wrong, I just know it.’ Her body would twitch, eyes blinking faster than you could ever imagine. Her lips making a loud smacking noise. It scared me to death. The questions started to flood my mind…how long did we have with her?”
“I haven’t lost a job or called the n-word because of the color of my skin. I haven’t had to work harder and prove myself as a person AND because of the color of my skin. I’ve known what it’s like to lose a job, be broke, and have zero in my bank account. But I still have white privilege.”
“The road was dirty and bumpy, with no end in sight. After several miles of traveling this little road, my new bride had had enough. ‘Get me the hell out of here!’ she said.”
