“Not just for yourself, not just for your own child. You changed the path for all of those to come. I hope you take a second to show yourself love, a second to say, ‘I did it. It stopped here,’ out loud.”
Dear Generational Curse Breakers, You Did It—You Freed Your Family From Hurt And Pain
‘Weighing just 2 pounds, we tested positive for crack cocaine.’: Twins adopted by abusive family overcome childhood trauma to advocate for kids in ‘broken’ foster care system
“I decided to quit my job making 6k a month. These kids needed us. They needed a voice. My passion was them.”
‘Dad’s not waking up.’ I saw him lying in bed, blood coming from one nostril.’: Woman raises awareness for intergenerational trauma
“I went to grab his shoulders to shake him awake, but my hand touched something hard. It took a second for my eyes to make out what I was holding. It was the handgun.”
To The Dad Who Chose Drugs Over Me
“Still to this day I ask myself, ‘Why me? Why wasn’t I enough? Why didn’t you fight for me?'”
‘We don’t just give up on our kids. So we won’t give up on you.’: Foster youth shares touching story of finding belonging with 14th family
“Like many foster youth, I set out to destroy myself, and it almost happened. When I couldn’t see my future on the other side of all the trauma I had endured, family #14 chose to.”
‘When will I be adopted by another family?’ He couldn’t accept he was safe.’: Adoptive mom talks trauma-informed parenting
“When he came to us, his rap sheet was already long. His mother drank while pregnant and moved without him. We didn’t know how to help this broken little boy.”
‘Dear woman in Target, I’ve heard it before. That I ‘spoil that baby.’ That she’ll never learn to be ‘independent.’ If only you knew.’: Mom urges ‘spoiling her is the most important job I’ll ever have’ after taking in abused orphan
“If only you knew she spent the first 10 months of her life utterly alone inside a sterile metal crib, with nothing to comfort her. If only you knew how we will spend years trying to override the part of her brain that screams ‘trauma’ and ‘not safe.’ If you only knew this baby now whimpers when she’s put down instead of when she is picked up.”
Dear Body, Thank You For Allowing Me To Live To Meet My Kids
“You endured endless abuse as a child, yet you didn’t fail me. I tried to kill you and feed you poison, yet you didn’t fail me. Thank you for holding on, and allowing me to live.”
‘Walls were painted blue, gendered gifts purchased, and everyone in the delivery room was shocked when I entered the world with a vagina.’: Intersex individual proud after ‘living in secrecy for 27 years’
“Before I turned one year old, I was forcibly sterilized. Or, in simpler terms, castrated.”
‘Why does he act like that?’ My home was a war zone. But I wouldn’t take back that time even if I could.’: Woman shares advice to new foster parents, ‘Find your people’
“That birth mother I met at the DHHS office? She and I could have easily traded places. I’d be a fool to believe I was called to love my children, and not their parents.”
