“I was waiting to pre-board a plane with my two young children when another passenger grabbed my shoulder. She told me I needed to wait for family boarding. I responded it was indeed our turn to go. ‘How’d you manage that?’ she asked. ‘We have different circumstances,’ I replied.”
‘Lucky you,’ she replied with an eye roll. Yes, lucky me. My children have autism.’: Mom explains the ‘one time’ she’s envied is ‘when we get to enter an airplane first’
‘Who wants a single mom with a deformed monster?! NO ONE!’ Pregnant at 18, my abortion was the next day. A flip switched.’: Mom raises son with missing limbs despite abusive partner’s pressure to terminate pregnancy
“Pregnant at 18? Hard. Finding out your baby has no arms or legs? Earth shattering. I tried to distance myself from my baby, but I woke up screaming, holding my belly. I would give birth to a vegetable. As I laid there, it hit like a thousand ton of bricks. I screamed to my baby boy that I love him, and I just wanted to do what’s fair for him.”
‘We were heading home by scooter when we slipped. A simple SLIP changed my life. I felt a piercing pain in my back. I looked down at my legs. They looked like someone else’s.’ Paralyzed woman carried across the world on ‘husband’s back’
“Ambulance, sirens, lights. I realized something big had changed, though it wasn’t yet clear what it was. From my hospital bed, I lied and reassured my parents I could feel their caresses, hands. I couldn’t. And I never walked again. Many find strength in sport. I did not. I found it in my husband.”
‘Today was hard. I have a backpack leash for my son. He is adopted, and was born drug addicted.’: Mom shamed with ‘snide comments, nasty looks’ for having son on leash
“I’m crying and clouded in shame and embarrassment. The looks and side eye I got from no less than 5 ‘Karen’s’ made me grab my items and leave. I’m glad your little Lucy is perfect and never has meltdowns. I don’t know why women feel the need to judge and mom shame.”
‘Me: ‘My brother has Down syndrome.’ Almost everyone: ‘Oh no, I’m so sorry! How long does he have to live?’ EXCUSE YOU?!?!’
“I remember the first time I heard someone ask me how long he has to live, and I played it off. I was like, ‘No, he’s fine!’ But then I quickly googled it as my heart raced, thinking he would die soon. My mother is a quiet one. I’d only get one-worded responses.”
‘I love you. It’s not your fault,’ my mom said, crying. I screamed, trying to keep her awake until paramedics reached her.’: Daughter says losing mother to suicide was ‘the most painful experience I’ve ever gone through’
“A friend of my mom said, ‘Look, your mom came to make December beautiful again.’ It’s so true. My daughter is the light of my life. It’s emotional raising a daughter without my own mother alive, but I understand now I would not have the beautiful life I have today if she hadn’t passed.”
‘I need to tell you something.’ He teared up. ‘How do we fix it?’ I took my sweet little girl to the car, and buckled her in. ‘There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect!’
“The schools just thought she was lazy. They would dismiss me. My sweet daughter’s personality started changing drastically. Kids were mean, teachers were hard on her. She was scared. We would try to help with homework, but she would cry and pull her hair out. One teacher actually put her outside and FORGOT about her.”
‘Can you take a 6-month-old baby?’ I knew in my heart he was mine. I remember them being less than kind, staring at my arm. ‘What happened to you?’
“‘If my arm didn’t stop me from being a great mom to my biological child, why would it stop me from being a great foster mom?’ I was advised to give up because of my disability. I was heartbroken and had no rights.”
‘At 17, two pink lines changed everything. While my friends were out partying and going to football games, I sat in a rocking chair and cried while my baby cried.’ Disabled teen mom doesn’t want others to ‘feel sorry for her’, reminds us to ‘show compassion’
“It wasn’t about me, it wasn’t just my life anymore. It was about this little baby growing. I didn’t care about myself or my future and it showed in my daily decisions. I was a mess, a completely reckless teenager. Sometime after getting put on probation, totaling my car, and losing credit from skipping school, I decided I needed a change. I was focused on giving her the life I never had.”
‘HE’S FINALLY ON THE PLANE! In desperation, we went to another airline desk to beg for help. She even sat on the floor with him. He was so frightened. He was in a wheelchair due to them medicating him.’
“This is my son, Leo. He has severe autism and the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. This airline refused to let him fly home because he was distressed when they wouldn’t let him have his doll. Police were called, which caused his meltdown.”
