“I started having severe chest pains. My soon to be ex-husband was determined to make my life a living nightmare. He stopped getting the girls from school, was coming and going from the house at all hours of the night. He treated our home like a roadside motel.”
‘If you were to die today, what would happen to your girls?’ I was in a crumbling marriage to an unfaithful spouse, a stressful job and had just been recently diagnosed. My world was ending.’
‘I got pregnant on my 21st birthday. I was a sophomore in college and my family was 400 miles away. I had to create an exit plan. Things took a turn for the worst.’
“I moved in with family members I didn’t have contact with growing up. It was the the beginning of a harsh series of months. I remember one person telling me, ‘The reason this is happening to you is because you’re always chasing money.’ I knew there had to be something better coming.”
‘One of the moms told me, ‘She is not athletic; she is a girly girl.’ I couldn’t sleep that night. All I could think was, ‘Why does she have to choose?’ YOU CAN DO IT ALL.’
“My youngest daughter is trying softball for the first time. We were at practice, and I was talking with other moms. I said I hoped she learned to love the game because she was athletic. Her comment stopped me in my tracks.”
‘It was the night of our 8-year wedding anniversary. As I pulled up, I see him standing outside holding a red Solo cup. He came with a cocktail. I thought to myself, ‘Interesting.’
“I emailed our money manager. ‘Can you send me all withdrawals from our savings account from the last 18 months?’ One hour later, I saw the purchase from Tiffany. I emailed my husband. ‘Any idea what this charge is?’ Radio silence. Hours later, ‘We can discuss it when I get home.'”
‘I had no one to call. This was a pain even greater than getting shot. Yes, you read right. Right in the in the head with a .45 bullet. WORSE THAN THAT.’
“I’ll never forget looking down at my trembling hands. The blood was warm like bath water as it flooded my fingers. I could faintly hear my friends repeating, ‘Stay with us, stay with us.’”
‘We are forgetting about our boys and that’s not OK.’
“Article after article is about raising daughters, not sons. And, when I do come across an essay on raising sons, it’s about how and why we need to raise our boys with particular values for the sake of the females and daughters of the world. This is something I’m not entirely on board with.”
‘I could not mentally prepare for what I was going to witness. He had been hospitalized due to Shaken Baby Syndrome. My heart immediately sank.’
“I asked if this was the same child I had seen in on the news, and she confirmed it. I knew in that moment I had to put my whole heart in it for this family.”
Moms, it’s up to us to raise daughters who don’t tear each other down
“Want to raise strong, confident and empowered little girls to lead the next generation? It’s time we all act as role models and empower the women around us, today.”
‘He’s emotionally abusing you.’ Woman celebrates her newfound self-love with empowering photo shoot
“Why was I letting these idiots make me feel less than I am? I realized something needed to change.”
‘Scars equal strength’: Mom empowers toddler daughter to embrace her ‘BRAVE SCAR’ after open heart surgery
“Then it hit me, maybe my scar and struggle was simply to give me the tools to help guide my daughter through the same trials and difficulties. She is beautiful, with and without the scars.”
