“‘You’re going to find the perfect outfit. Your body just birthed a human, be easy on yourself.’ I could feel the tears creeping in, the familiar burn in the bridge of my nose. This time I knew the root of it was different. I cried for all the years I spent hating my body. For all of the years hiding behind throw pillows and purses. I did something that, before, would have been out of the question. I told them the truth.”
“While out walking the dog on Saturday morning, just days after my last daughter left the nest, I got a call from my oldest child. ‘He’s here. He’s been born!’ In the span of just 24 hours, I was forcibly retired from the only job I’d ever wanted, and thrust into a role I had no idea how to do.”
“I spent 10 years numbing my pain, always trying to be the loudest in the room to hide the shame. In the depths of my darkness, being a young mom just wasn’t an option. The party life was for me. Until I met Eric. We met on an online dating app, then locked eyes at the gym, not knowing the other would be there. I knew instantly I would spend the rest of my life with him. I had to make a decision: be ashamed of my journey, or allow it to propel me forward.”
“I went to my ex’s wedding. His fiancé asked me to be there with them, so I went. I was terrified. ‘Wow, a woman who hardly knows my daughter is going out of her way to welcome her back home?’ That was the moment I realized, she is the one for my ex and our daughter.”
“It hurt. I’m not going to lie. She is a beautiful lady, successful in her career, parents well, and her daughter is adorable. This is a mom I looked up to.”
“How do I make people see the beauty I see?”
“In a panic now, I pray. I put my hands up to my bloody mouth and pray long and hard and more fervently than I have ever prayed before. I can’t go back. I won’t. ‘Please help me.’ I will not look behind me anymore. There is no going back. I must break free from the cage I have held my self in for so long.”
“The things I loved most about my sons turned out to be red flags. When others parents learned they were autistic, they said, ‘I’m so sorry’ as if they are sick. ‘Did the vaccines cause it?’ They tell me I should opt out of them, as if autism is a greater risk than a preventable illness that could kill. I will no longer feel sad for my boys.”
“Kids these days don’t just have to worry about being bullied at school like I was. They must face being bullied at home through text or the internet. Without naming names and calling them out, I am going to tell you about 4 different kids.”
“I read an article about hitting the marriage jackpot if your husband ‘does these 10 things.’ My husband of 21 years does none of them, but I still hit the jackpot.”
