“My boyfriend and I went over mom’s house. As we were leaving, she nonchalantly said, ‘Bob and I are getting married on Saturday. Just a small thing. No one is really going to be there. You’re probably working right?’ My mom was embarrassed by me.”
‘My mother didn’t invite me to her wedding.’
‘Have you ever considered foster custody of her?’ I was young. Really young. I didn’t want to be a mom. I felt the weight of his words and had to catch my breath.’
“On a whim, I booked a trip to visit my high school sweetheart. My life was literal chaos. That stranger looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Well done. Congratulations, you can take your daughter and go home.’ I hopped on an airplane the next morning in fear this could still all go terribly wrong.”
‘I married a wealthy man at the age of 19. He was already divorced and 15 years older. I ran away and broke all ties with my parents. I was vulnerable.’
“I remember someone from another relationship telling me, ‘You should be happy, at least I am taking off one major thing in your to-do list by marrying you!’ I made the decision that my son and I will never meet him again. People often remind me I am a single mother. I tell them, ‘I was a single mother even when I was married.’”
‘I married the man of my dreams, created a family, and realized after 9 years we weren’t able to pray the gay away.’
“He pulled me aside and told me he ‘struggled’ with homosexuality. My response: ‘Wow, you’re going to need a really strong wife!’ For the very first time, Kyle actually said out loud, ‘I am a gay man and I want to be with a man.’”
‘I found out my marriage was a lie. He was unfaithful. I had been lied to for months. I spewed venomous hate towards him. I was numb. Then, I found out I was having a miscarriage.’
“We got married! I was so happy, I truly thought we were going to be okay. I had two amazing daughters, a rocking career, a husband who wasn’t perfect, but he tried. Then my world fell apart.”
‘This pregnancy was different. I thought it was because there was just one baby. Our son came into this world completely in his sac. Looking back, I should have known something wasn’t right.’
“There is a term in nursing ‘Wimpy white boy,’ that refers to little white boy babies. They have a tendency not to do well in situations such as this. At 2 a.m. I had woken up and my oldest twin was facing me. I felt peace in that moment, and I knew right then I would have a baby that day.”
‘You can’t leave me until we are married.’ I ran to the jewelry store for a ring. I told her she was my life, and I am not going anywhere. She smiled as she looked up at me.’
“When I spoke to the chaplain, he advised me his schedule was open until the 16th. My response was, ‘I was thinking tonight at 7:30.’”
‘I shopped at Nordstrom. He had hand me downs. My mom gave me money. He received lunch through the free lunch program. I didn’t have a job until I was 19. He painted farm fences at age 10.’
“I don’t want to raise my kids to be as spoiled as I was, and he doesn’t want to raise his kids to be as poor as he was. I’m thankful to have married a man who went through the harder side of life, so he could teach a girl from privilege what actually matters in life.”
‘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.”
‘I was raised not to have sex before marriage, and now I am unwed and pregnant. I sat in the bathroom alone and terrified.’
“I found out he was seeing another woman and everything came crashing down. I ruined myself all for someone who never loved me.”