“Our communication ceased, and nobody batted an eye. We all moved on with our own lives and didn’t take each other with us. It really is sad. But I guess, sometimes, family can be toxic enough to no longer serve us.”
‘My father died 3 years ago when I was 25. I have a relationship with my mother, but talk to no other members of my family.’ Mom explains why her family feels like ‘distant strangers’
‘He went quiet. ‘You’re out with who?!’ he snarled. Surprised by his reaction, I laughed. His anger grew. ‘Tell him to go home. Tell him to leave. Now.’ This must be my mistake, I thought.’
“As an insecure 18-year-old, it felt great that this older, successful man liked me. When he asked me to be his girlfriend only two weeks later, I was all in. I was so charmed by him. When I went upstairs to gather my things, he followed, blocking the front door. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’ He wouldn’t move. He wouldn’t let me leave.”
‘Do I need to separate you two?,’ the flight attendant asked. Wait. WHAT? I looked up from my magazine, confused. My kid sniffled. ‘Nothing gets better at 30,000 feet,’ she continued.’
“My first thought was, ‘Does your ATTITUDE, Janet?’ This was all because my 16-year-old daughter had to leave her boyfriend behind to see her sister graduate from COLLEGE. I thought she would ballet leap onto the plane. I was wrong, friends. I was so wrong.”
‘My girlfriend of 9 months was pregnant. ‘I need to tell you something.’ I opened it, saw pink and cried. My relationship was beyond repair. I had to leave, I had to be a single dad.’
“My heart was thumping. ‘Yeah, we are having a baby too.’ Nobody spoke. Everyone looked at each other dumbfounded. Finally, my sister broke the painful silence. ‘Are you serious?,’ she asked. I was serious. Everyone knew my relationship was vulnerable.”
‘STEFANY! Are you out with someone else? Don’t you love me anymore? CALL ME BACK!’ Finally, I went home. ‘We have to break up.’ He starts sobbing. ‘Who is HE?!’ Something in me snapped.’
“He picked me up in his fancy car. Rented us a beach front hotel with a balcony. We had our first kiss. It was perfect. When I got home, one of his friends tried to warn me. Told me to be careful.”
‘Keeley?,’ you whispered. I peeked back in. You were grinning that huge grin. ‘I love you, Keebee.’ I’m not happy to admit I got annoyed. Now, I think you were just preparing me.’
“I remember my mom on the phone telling me to ‘Get out, get out. Close your eyes, don’t look’. You knew I was coming home first that day. You knew.”
‘My daughter, who is always listening, said, ‘I bet she will say, ‘OH, NO! It’s fine!’ But deep down, she will be angry at you.’ That is what my 9-year-old daughter has already learned. From me.’
“I lie awake after parties and wonder if my joke was taken the wrong way. Whose feelings did I hurt? I apologized to my daughter for my actions that lead her to think women had to hide. That pleasing people should be a top priority. The truth is enough.”
‘Since I was 12, I wanted to be Mrs. Chris. He was my first kiss, my first love. Only there was one problem. Chris was older than me. We had to sneak around. I was obsessed with him.’
“My little sister and I were talking about our pasts. Of course, Chris came up. I made the comment that I needed to call him and see how he’s doing. A few hours later, the phone rang. I recognized the name on Caller ID right away. It was Chris! I was so excited that I jumped. However, it wasn’t Chris on the other end. It was his stepdad.”
‘Then Rob messaged me. And everything changed. We decided to go out on a date. For the next few weeks, Rob and I were each other’s world. Or so I thought.’
“We stayed at his parents’ house several times, but never his. I began to suspect Rob had a wife or a girlfriend, and that’s why we never went to his place. He always had an excuse, and I always believed him. Then one night, he told me he had something to tell me.”
‘My boyfriend closed-fist punched me in the face, knocking me off my feet. My 230-pound boyfriend split open my face. The past 6 months of my life have felt like a slow torture.’
“My boyfriend of almost 2 years came home from a 7-month deployment. Two days after he had been back, I found out he had not been faithful. When I found out, I proceeded to ask him to leave. He refused.”
