“I knew the day was coming. I forced a smile when it happened, but the honest truth is, my heart wanted to burst out into big, bubbling tears.”

“I knew the day was coming. I forced a smile when it happened, but the honest truth is, my heart wanted to burst out into big, bubbling tears.”
“My boys are constantly reminded that they aren’t girls. That they are ‘more trouble’ and ‘more of a handful’ and burden.”
“My mother took me down into a basement with some strange men. They packaged up large bottles of what I was told were antibiotics. I was only 12 at the time. I put them in my backpack. The rest of the trip my mother was incoherent. She couldn’t even keep her head up. That was the last straw for my dad. Later I found out that she had me carry over 1800 pills of narcotics and muscle relaxers that she planned to use all for herself.”
“They did X-rays on his little lungs and told Case it’s the equivalent to you or I drinking gasoline.”
“All of a sudden everything changed. She looked in his eye and things became serious. ‘I’m trying to get him into a specialist today.’ The word ‘today’ was lingering. What could be so important? I couldn’t believe my ears.”
“The first night, Onyx cried out and before I could rush to his side, Tyler was already there soothing him back to sleep. I knew in that moment that although this was unconventional, this was right for us.”
“Raising children who spent their first years of holidays in chaos and insecurity can be challenging. We juggle the joy of now, with the reality of painful memories.”
“I don’t like how he hurt and how he suffered. I don’t like the pain his disease caused. But I do like what it taught me.”
“He breathed 2 tiny last gasps of breath before leaving us for good this time. I watched him, felt him and loved him. So I think yes, I will mourn and still cry, if I want and need to.”
“A neighbor at a playgroup asked all the kids to go around the room and say what color they were. They all laughed when it was Eli’s turn. He said he was white, like everyone else did. They made sure he left knowing he wasn’t.”