“I never talked about FA with friends, classmates, or professors. I exhausted myself doing so much walking around campus, attempting to keep up and pretend everything was ok. I had tunnel vision; walking on my own was all I cared about… until I had no choice.”
‘I knew FA was present, but I refused to acknowledge it — to protect my heart and my free spirit.’: After years of denial, woman embraces mobility aid and life with a rare genetic disease
‘What? No hands?’ The Universe chose me to be Ivy’s mom.’: Mother learns of daughter’s limb difference, refuses terminating pregnancy because ‘she was ours to love, protect’
“Missing both forearms and hands. This felt like a punch to the gut. It stole my breath. My husband firmly, passionately said to me, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do to take care of her. I’ll build her anything. I want her. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life.’ He was right. She saw me and said, ‘Yes. I want her. I want HER to be my mommy.’”
‘My innocence was taken by a 19-year-old. We jumped into a ‘relationship.’ I let him take me into bed because ‘My innocence was already taken. Why did I need to pretend like I had it?’
“I felt like I was important and loved. A few months later, my mom took me to the doctor. I was pregnant, at 15 years old. He hit me in the back of my head multiple times but he took me to Taco Bell after, so he still loved me. Where else would I go anyway?”
‘While he’s so young, I want him to remember me. So he can be sure how very much I love him.’ Dying mother leaves gifts, notes behind for her son through his 21st birthday
“Personal effects like my notepads – so he can see what my writing was like. Or the perfume he helped pick out for me earlier this year so he’ll remember my smell.”
The 5 Stages of Crazy When Kids Are Up Late
“Last night, my husband and I made the mistake of leaving the house after dinner.”
‘This is me, at the peak of my postpartum depression.’: Mom’s candid photo captures the depths of her ‘mind-altering’ postpartum depression
“I told my family that I wanted to die, I wanted to end my life. I was in so much pain, nothing seemed to help it.”
