“She was only four months along, I felt my nerves spike. She and I held hands and laid eyes on that sweet boy together for the first time. We both cried and cried. ‘This is the moment our lives change forever,’ she said. He loves and adores her, but that doesn’t make us any less of his parents.”
“The part where I cried when I couldn’t have children and the doctor told me to ‘man up’ because ‘the world population is too big anyway so just get a dog.’ The part where, despite my best efforts to love my child, she still says, ‘I want my other momma.'”
“While working together, our ‘fling’ turned into something much more serious. We realized we didn’t want to be without each other. We decided it was time to come out to our families. Until that point, they’d presumed we were just good friends. Laura’s parents were accepting, unfortunately mine were not. In fact, it went as badly as it could have. Laura was not allowed in the house. I was asked to keep the relationship a secret.”
“We traded our passion for the typical American dream. The house, the yard, the white picket fence. It seemed we’d spent all of our time waiting for retirement age, for the kids to grow up, for the house to be paid off. Among all the waiting, there was no time to bring our beautiful dreams into reality.”
“I could hear unkind comments coming from behind and in front of me. I broke down crying and tried to get away as fast as I could. When I got the news, it was a relief to say, ‘This isn’t me trying to be annoying.’ It was uncontrollable.”
“The EMT arrived. ‘You don’t know him, do you?’ I felt totally called out! ‘Well, he’s cute. Maybe you’ll get his number.’ As we chatted, his deep dimples began to show. Once I knew he’d be okay, I checked him out a little more. ‘Okay, he looks kinda tall lying on that stretcher.’ I thought I was helping a stranger. Turns out I was setting myself up to fall deeply in love with the man of my dreams.”
“She cried and brought out the Bible. She read passages aloud while sobbing. She truly believed I was going to hell and she fought tooth and nail to make sure her baby wasn’t going there.”
“The clock reads 5:36. I hear him yell. Blood is trickling from his mouth. Shock. Fear. Confusion. Put him in the car. Stop. No time. He’s not breathing. Cry. Scream. Beg him to breathe. The police are here to question us. Why aren’t they doing anything? It’s too late. We have to plan a funeral. Shortly after, my relationship ends. The burden of a dead baby is too much. I fall asleep crying on my son’s grave frequently. I cannot breathe. I am a disaster trying to maintain normalcy.”
“Just a simple phrase ‘you know if you ever need to talk, I am here’ became the foundation for one of the strongest relationships in my life.”
“Every appointment was in a pink-laced room. Coming to terms with it was difficult enough, but the ostracizing sea of pink ribbons and pink hospital gowns only added to the emasculating nature of it. I felt such guilt in allowing the delay in getting the lump checked.”
