“Your existence matters. Your life matters. Your feelings matter.”
- Love What Matters
- Trauma & Healing
“Your existence matters. Your life matters. Your feelings matter.”
“I have learned to not run away from, but to go through the pain, to get to the other side.”
“My paternal grandparents sacrificed their retirement to step in as my caregivers. They never once made me feel like a burden.”
“They’d ask if I burned myself or bleached my skin. The ‘popular’ boys barked at me and called me a pit bull. I’d wear long-sleeved shirts to cover my arms, even in extreme heat while on the verge of passing out. I really, really wanted to fit in. But then I realized this is the only body I get, and I deserve to enjoy all that this life has to offer.”
Adoption is bittersweet, but the pain and trauma can be lessened when appropriate transition plans promoting connection and communication are in place.
“In being their fan, I am actively engaging with my ethnic identity for the first time in my life.”
“More than half of my life is blurry due to everything that was happening, but I never stopped digging. I wanted to see and face the truth.”
“It’s been a month since my son Wesley was born. It also marks one month since one of the worst days of my life.”
“Just reach out your hand and tell them, ‘You’ll be alright.’”
“I lived in constant hypervigilance due to posttraumatic stress from the abuse, and in my eyes, I didn’t deserve him. I was waiting for the moment he would either stop talking to me or try to use me.”