“I’ll never forget the moment we were told the news. ‘Sophia’s mouth, hands and feet are severely deformed. She might not survive birth.’ But she did. Her birth was the exact moment our lives changed forever. When they laid her on my chest, a voice in my mind said, ‘Comfort her, you need to comfort her.’ I was in shock as my little girl stared into my eyes. I’d never seen anyone like her.”
‘All done,’ she mustered out, with an approving ‘finally mom’ look. It was the hardest decision.’: Mom of 10-year-old bullied for facial deformities vows to fight back after her death, ‘Sophia was like no one in this world’
‘Take your son and I’ll find you, trust me, I’ll find you.’ He held a gun to me while pregnant.’: Mom learns ‘self-defense’ as black belt after ‘surviving’ domestic abuse, urges women to know there is ‘a better life’
“Then came my escape. It was tricky, but I planned it well. My father was dying of brain cancer, and my husband had beaten me for going to my father’s funeral. It was time. I finally had a chance to escape with my child. You are worth fighting for. I need to let others know – there is an escape, a better life.”
‘We are not your ‘typical’ family. We are white parents with a black child.’: Mom sends heartfelt letter to teacher ‘advocating’ for her black son this school year
“Eli is usually the only black student in his classroom. We are not a ‘colorblind’ family. Eli’s hair is a big part of who he is and how he expresses himself. Please don’t let anyone touch it without his permission. Please provide him with colored paper, pencils or markers that represents his skin color. Not many teachers in our small town think about this subject.”
‘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.”
‘I thought, ‘How is THIS nothing to worry about?’ The walls were closing in. Everything turned black and I couldn’t move my body. ‘It’s common for college students to be under a lot of stress.’
“I decided to request one specific blood test; one that was much harder to receive than it should have been. I had to basically force my doctor to test me. One week later, I was finally given the answer I had been longing so badly for.”
‘An airline employee quietly asked about ‘my rash,’ and if I had a letter from a doctor stating it was ‘OK for me to fly.’ I explained to him it was a genetic skin condition.’
“He walked up to talk to the crew. He also Googled it during that time. He came back and said he apologized, but we ‘wouldn’t be able to fly,’ and we ‘had to get off the plane.’”
‘With no emotion he told us, ‘Ryder will forever be a vegetable and drool all over himself.’ Then he got up and left the room. All I saw was tunnel vision. We knew it wasn’t right.’
“Driving down the road, my ears started ringing. With the big lump in my throat I let out a few tears, pulled myself together, and prayed. I felt as if I was getting struck by lightning once again. So many rare things have happened to our family.”
‘If I count the times I’ve been told not to neglect myself as I need to be there for my son with autism, I would need more than 2 hands and 2 feet. Yesterday, I realized I’m not indestructible.’
“If you ask me whether I’m okay, the answer will be as it always is, ‘I’m okay. I have to be.'”
‘Please Mom, don’t do that, you’ll kill yourself,’ my son pleaded. The ladder was too far from the window.’ Mom’s harrowing journey finding daughter overdosed
“‘Feel better, Mom. I love you.’ She hung up. The following morning, her door was locked, but her window was open. It was a rainy, stormy day. I was petrified. Something was wrong. I ran outside and climbed the metal ladder in thunder, lightning. Looking in, I was in shock. My daughter was lying face down.”
‘Relatives asked for a goodbye hug, and my son promptly said no.’ Mom explains why she told her son ‘you don’t have to’ when asked for ‘awkward’ hug
“This person said, ‘Ohhh come on! Just one big hug!’ and I was looked at by the relative like I should encourage him by saying, ‘Go on give her a hug!'”
