Touching
🤧
‘My child’s father was leaving me. I was a new mother to a 3-month-old baby girl. The only items I had were a bag of clothes and a computer. She didn’t deserve any of this.’
“I looked around, saw a bedroom with a blow-up mattress, a kitchen with hardly any food, and only a few baby items. I then looked at my daughter sleeping so sweetly. Something inside me broke; I told her it would be the last night I would EVER put her in these circumstances.”
‘Calm down, it’s not like you’re gonna see the guy you robbed.’ Well guess what. I walked up to the church, and guess whose face I saw? The man I had just robbed. He was the greeter.’
“I couldn’t get out. I was terrified. I walked up to him with tears in my eyes, and he gave me a hug. ‘You are in the right place,’ he told me. ‘When I was your age, I was doing the same thing.’ I had no idea he was in recovery. That I was the first time I believed there was hope for me.”
‘We sound like the beginning of a bad joke. A Black, Transracial, Mennonite Adoptee and a White Mennonite Midwesterner walk into a bar…’
“Eight years ago, I got in a car at midnight to eat bad cheese fries at a sketchy truck stop. I took a chance to be vulnerable with someone I didn’t know. And, it changed my life.”
‘She was perfect, the kind of baby other mothers are jealous of. Until she wasn’t. We felt lost on how to ‘fix it.’ I quit my job. My husband ran out of sick days.’
“She had a diaper rash we couldn’t control. I knew there was nothing normal about it. I thought, ‘Funny thing. I ALWAYS washed Kinsley’s clothes before letting her wear them.’ ALWAYS. But on this day, I blamed myself.”
‘I was still being bullied. I developed a crush on a cute boy. He told me, ‘Here, take this. It will make you feel so much better. You won’t have any pain.’ I immediately felt like I was on cloud nine.’
“‘Momma, can I come back home?’ I remember thinking, ‘You can’t save me, it’s too late, I am slipping away quickly.’ She kissed my forehead. ‘You are stronger than you know.’ I never heard from my ex again.”
‘Why don’t you paint it?,’ my mom suggested. I wanted to make my own dress for prom. She encouraged me to chase my dreams and make it happen. Was it simple? No. Worth it? TOTALLY.’
“Some days I’d come home from school to find that my mom already started without me. She’d cut the skirt’s panels, sew the bottom of the dress, and more. Like so many things in life, she worked hard to make things easier for me.”
‘Before our wedding, we were in a serious motorcycle accident. I was laying on the road waiting for first responders. ‘We can always adopt. We will have children someday, no matter what.’
“I held her hand and supported her as she bravely brought her daughter into the world. I didn’t know what to say throughout her labor. I just remember repeating, ‘You’re doing so good. Just breathe. You got this.’ There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.”
‘I was going to donate to her fund, but I found out her parents are lesbian. Sorry.’ My wife received this horrible message. We were so hurt.’
“We got a 3D ultrasound to find out the sex. It’s a GIRL! I bought hair bows and tutus. We were beyond excited. She was born perfect and healthy. No one knew she was hiding a secret illness. After realizing our sick child has two mommies, she couldn’t donate.”
‘I whispered to myself, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ The silence in the room was deafening. I held my breath as the wand slid over my stomach.’
“To the woman who wondered if sharing a photo of a dead baby was necessary on my feed. Yes. That baby, the one you ‘didn’t have time to look away from,’ is my daughter. Her name is Dorothy, and I wish I could see her face right now.”
‘Your voice got loud. You said I made a nasty mess. I’m sorry, mama. I didn’t mean to make you mad. You look so pretty today.’
“I love your soft hair and your makeup, mama. I’d like to put makeup on my face, but I don’t have any. You run around searching for your phone, and I have an idea! I saw a marker in the other room. I color all over my face. I bet I look beautiful! But, you didn’t think so.”
