“‘Would you be interested in a 15-month-old boy with medical issues?’ I stammered out, ‘H-h-hang on, lemme call Emily!’ A tall man turned around, holding a beautiful little boy. The toddler was completely passed out, wearing a too-small onesies, and smelled like cigarettes. I took him into my arms. The moment his skin touched mine felt like electricity flowing through my entire body.”
“I still pray every time he walks out that door that he’ll walk back in. The sound of Velcro waking me up at 4 a.m. has become my favorite sound. I’m a ‘leo’ wife. I’ve cried to him, ‘It’s hard to send you out that door, to protect people who want to harm you.’ But it’s so much more than an adrenaline rush for him. This man is my strength through the struggles. We’re not just growing old together; we’re growing up together.”
“I remember every text I sent him that day, with no reply. I’ll never forget the terrible gut feeling I had when I found out 3 American soldiers had been killed. It was windy and the trees were blowing, as if Ben was giving me a sign. ‘It can’t be him, it’s finally our turn.’ I remember trying to go to sleep that night, but was tossing and turning. And then came the pounding on the door at 1 a.m.”
“Ryan had a confession to make. ‘What could it be?’ I felt a pang in my heart. ‘I have a thing for Rachel. She doesn’t know.’ Once the shock wore off, I had a confession of my own: ‘Me too.’ The rest was history. I know it’s unconventional, but my love is boundless. Why put a fence around it? I’d rather be happy in a throuple, than unhappy in a couple.”
“You had a huge fight with your partner. You wonder if you are being abused, or if it was ‘just a mistake.’ You watch them chat and laugh with your partner at holidays and school functions, and you know they will never believe what happens behind closed doors.”
“We were flying back with our baby 5 days after she was born. We boarded early, and passed a number of men wearing hunting gear, whom I thought may have a problem with our family. But as we sat in our seats, wiping down all the surfaces and trying not to freak out, 2 of the guys in hunting gear came up to us and said, ‘Congratulations, you 3 make such a beautiful family.’ It was an important reminder.”
“I stare at a picture of smiling faces. We look happy, relaxed. ‘Remember this day? So much fun!’ she wrote. We were connected then. An unbreakable bond of friendship. Now, we only talk every few months in emails like this, often forgotten by me. I feel guilt wash over me. I’m knee-deep in parenting. I’ve changed.”
“I’ll never forget the moment we were told the news. ‘Sophia’s mouth, hands and feet are severely deformed. She might not survive birth.’ But she did. Her birth was the exact moment our lives changed forever. When they laid her on my chest, a voice in my mind said, ‘Comfort her, you need to comfort her.’ I was in shock as my little girl stared into my eyes. I’d never seen anyone like her.”
“Waiting rooms and doctor’s offices remind me of her – my first baby. It didn’t feel ‘common’. It hurt. Don’t tell her ‘you’ll have another one.’ She’s trying. She needs to know it’s okay to feel.”
“I thought he was joking. ‘Ohhhhh, I was hoping to walk in and see that you two were just very short. Have you ever seen the little people shows on TV?’ What the heck? He was convinced our son was a dwarf. He double checked measurements. He was actually serious! ‘What will our friends think?!’ I couldn’t breathe.”
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