“I couldn’t be out in public without panic attacks. I was constantly worried what people were saying about me and what happened with my relationship. I remember going to the supermarket and needing to get out because my chest would tighten and I couldn’t breathe. I had never put myself first. It was my time to take control and push my body to the limits.”
‘My husband cheated on me while in the process of trying for a baby. I asked him to leave and ended the marriage. My life turned upside down.’: Woman’s extreme physical, mental health transformation after divorce
‘They don’t need us to wipe their butts or make their meals. Hello, new world of awesomeness! And then it happens. They fight for their independence from us.’: Mom says ‘all we can do is love them for who they choose to be’
“Just because they don’t live the life we do or make the same choices we do doesn’t mean they’ve somehow screwed up. It doesn’t mean they are lost. It doesn’t mean they have ruined their lives. All we can do, as parents, is love them for who they choose to be and trust what we have taught them is enough.”
‘You’re the girl without a tribe. You, my dear, are not broken. People just don’t know how wonderful you are yet.’: Woman urges ‘whatever girl you are, you are not alone’
“I’m talking to the girls who stand alone, the ones who float from circle to circle. The ones who may just have one best friend or a couple of acquaintances. You, my dear, are not broken. You dance to the beat of your own drum.”
‘Isn’t he too big to be in a stroller? Shouldn’t he be walking?’ I couldn’t keep my little boy safe anymore.’: Family adopts service dog for autistic son, ‘That was the day my little boy’s life changed forever’
“She was the first thing he went to in the morning and the last thing he kissed at night. She was his protector. She was his safety blanket. She was his best friend. He rubs her fur, she licks his hands, and together they can take on the world.”
‘I went from a 3,000 square-foot house to a little hotel room with nothing. I found out the hard way.’: Mom learns to live in minimalism after house fire forces her to realize what’s important
“The single lone hair tie. You baby it. You put it back on your arm after you get out of the shower. You make sure it’s with you when you head to yoga class. That hair tie is your entire freaking life. Then I threw my – should have washed it yesterday – hair into a quick ponytail and a light went off.”
‘Hopefully she’ll gain some independence. BUT, but if she doesn’t, she’ll just live with us.’: Parents of daughter with special needs realize they ‘don’t talk about her future’ because it makes it ‘more real’
“We may never grow to be empty-nesters. The words nonchalantly slipped from his lips, but they hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve never heard him say that. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever said it out loud.”
‘As our children become teens, they tell us THEY WANT independence. That THEY NEED it. They tell us they are grown up. That we are suffocating them.’
“’We don’t want a baby who is too attached.’ So we spend those early years pushing our children towards independence. They don’t need us as much as they think they do. We tell them they are big boys or girls. And we push. And we push.”
‘In truth, I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to be (just) me anymore. I have found such comfort and safety in being a mother.’
“I was married young. I was pregnant soon after. I followed my husband’s career and livelihood. And all I keep hearing is: ‘Well, what are you going to make of this, Wendy?'”
