“I don’t know if we’ll ever become anything more than just two strangers who exchanged words the 21st century way. But I do know one thing: I will never forget him. And when you find the winning words that make you see so clearly through the fog, you hold onto them for life. And you share them with the world, too.”
“I wanted the version of me from six years ago. She was 60 pounds lighter. She ran 5k’s. She spent 12-14 hours each week at the gym. She was a size 8. And, as teenagers are so good at doing, my son called me out on my bulls–t. And I needed it.”
“I could not find my words. I slurred my speech and often got lost driving to places I’d driven to a thousand times. My doctor finally explained pregnancy posed ‘too much of a risk to my life.’ But come December, I saw two little lines on a stick. This little one was determined.”
“What I really wanted was a house full of love. And that’s what I have.”
“I didn’t know what to think. Immediately after our conversation, I started googling… and very quickly, it became apparent to me that for the first time ever, my life was finally starting to make sense.”
“I remember telling one of my friends that the ultrasound was just a precaution and I wasn’t worried. Little did I know, our lives would change forever.”
“There was a flash of light, screams. My reality became a blur. Everything I had ever imagined for myself was gone.”
“He came rushing over to take me to urgent care since I could not see to drive. ‘It’s really BAD,’ was all I could say to him through tears. It hurt to cry, but I couldn’t stop.”
“I began cycling through extreme weight loss programs, plans and fads. My efforts backfired, and I soon had a new sinister predicament with which to contend with.”
“Lying in a hospital bed, after a 12-year battle with opiates, I knew I had to face the truth. I had to stop running from my childhood. I needed to face it head on, no matter how difficult. I transformed myself in front of the people who broke me, and then I left them all behind.”
