“They admitted to feeling some sort of ‘reward’ at watching him lay lifeless. None of the abusers had any explanation. We were preparing for him to pass away. But then, something happened. We’ve been by his side, loving him. Finally the day came, termination of rights for parents – we thought it would never happen. This bittersweet day, we also learned just exactly why our son was so fragile.”
‘You are so strong, little man. We love you.’ This 2-month-old had been brutally attacked by his dad.’: Military couple adopts ‘warrior’ shaken baby survivor, ‘He is a true testament that love conquers all’
‘John has hit his head. We’re on the way to pick you up,’ he said. ‘HIS HEAD?’ The room suddenly felt different, as if the air was being sucked out. Oh God no. ‘Maryanne, are you there?’
“My husband had responded to a break and enter complaint and was searching for an intruder. I raced to his side and grabbed his hand. ‘I love you,’ I whispered in his ear. No response. ‘I love you, John.’ And then, it happened again.”
‘This will be my Dad’s last parade. His heart is failing. All he talks about is the Memorial Day Parade – ‘Are you coming? I’ll be in my uniform.’
“We were unsure how to tell him he’s too weak to ride through the parade. Then we made the decision – we are going for it. We are putting him in his uniform and into a car, with a nurse, so one last time, he can see what he and his beloved wife did for our little town.”
‘Some of the bravest warriors I know aren’t the ones in uniforms, they are the ones left behind on the home front. Yes, I’m talking about you, military spouse.’
“I see you, military wife/husband. I see you standing quietly by their side as praise is given for their service.”
‘I’ve been hiding our family’s ‘secret’ for years. I have been silent. Masking our smiles. Faking OK. A complete nightmare. I am so sick of living in fear.’
“The officer had actually committed suicide and faked his own murder. This brought out things in Ty I had never seen before. Our family has been in nonstop crisis.”
‘I told him to STOP right where he was because we were about to have the baby. He was walking to board the plane.’
“He sat down against the wall right beside the boarding line. People passed by him boarding the plane as he sat there in tears of amazement – his baby girl was making her debut into the world.”
‘It felt like the longest 3 days of my life, keeping the secret from him.’: After miscarriage, woman surprises Army husband with pregnancy before his deployment
“Right around the time as the miscarriage, we also found out Ben would be deploying for 9 months to Afghanistan. Knowing he would be gone a lot for training between April and when he left in September, we didn’t think it was likely I would get pregnant again before he left, and figured we’d have to wait another year to even start trying for a baby again. Three days before, I decided to test again. To my surprise, it was positive! I was pregnant!”
