“We didn’t care if he/she was married, their religion, their sexual preference…we just wanted to make sure it was someone who would love these children. It wouldn’t be long before we were matched with someone.”
‘As I read their story, I cried. Not because I was regretting giving ‘my’ babies to someone else, but because I knew they were the ones meant to raise these kids.’
‘It never fails that when I get home, relaxed and full from a great dinner, the kids in bed, and the wife says, ‘Baby will you do me a favor?’
“I already know what’s coming – Without fail, every night.”
‘Whenever friends asks me to do something, I respond with, ‘Let me ask my husband first.’
“*GASP* I ask my husband for permission? No, Tim is not my parent. That’s not the point of asking.”
‘Marriage 3. I asked him why he treats me the way he does. He said, ‘Maybe because I like it and I thought you wouldn’t leave.”
“We got married. We adopted a baby girl, and a year after that, had a baby girl. Life was wonderful for 2 years. Then things changed.”
‘I play out the details of that final weekend in my head. Struck by how quickly it was all over. Just like that, she was gone. Gone forever.’
“It intensifies on November 8th. That is the day my soulmate came home for Veterans Day weekend. It was a Thursday evening, as it is this year. She kissed me goodbye, then my life was turned upside down.”
‘I’ve been married 4 times. Yes, you read that right, 4 times. I met my first husband when I was in 8th grade. I asked her who ‘he’ was. She said it was my cousin.’
“Graduation night arrives and I am 18. Time to run away from home. Oh my gosh, what was I about to do? I left my parents a note on the kitchen table.”
‘My husband passed away from a sudden heart attack at 32. I felt like my world was crashing in. Although I had two beautiful babies, I thought multiple times about suicide.’
“My best friend had enough of my sorrow and stole my phone to add me to Tinder. I absolutely HATED the idea. There was no way I would let a man near myself or my children.”
‘For one brief moment, all was as it should be. Suddenly, without any warning, the path crumbled beneath our feet. I was severely hemorrhaging. I was bleeding out.’
“I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes. I knew I was in trouble. I asked for my husband and heard his voice weakly manage to say, ‘I love you.’ He knew I was in trouble, too.”
‘She took her last breath. I felt her soul leave her body. She made me promise I would be OK. Armed with a map and her ashes, I set off on a journey of a lifetime.’
“She stared off into the distance, and then turned back to me and smiled. She told me, ‘I want you to go. You need to go. You need to be out there… Nature is your cathedral.’ I will never forget those words.”
I’ve birthed an entire baby in the time it takes my husband to poop.
“I’ve actually done it faster! On two separate occasions, and one of those births was a set of twins. Twins!”
