“‘Click, click, swoosh, swoosh’ was all I heard as my 8-year-old daughter emerged from her bedroom. It was just after 7:30 a.m. – she was wearing silver high heels and a floor-length, red, jeweled, ball gown. My initial thought was, ‘She must think it’s Saturday.’ It was indeed a school-day. Not only that, it was the all-important, everlasting PICTURE DAY! Oh, she knew.”
‘It’s not how you look, it’s how you FEEL!’: 8-year-old rocks red ball gown in school pictures, mom can’t argue with her confidence
‘I told a friend how excited I am for my daughter to see The Little Mermaid movie. I was so proud my daughter would see herself in Ariel, a beautiful Black princess.’
“My friend didn’t understand the big deal. She ‘doesn’t see color.’ She thinks it doesn’t matter what race or ethnicity characters are, because we are all ‘the same.’ Can I be honest? You. Are. Wrong.”
‘We thought we had reached an agreement. My daughter would live with her dad. But I had no idea how hard they would make it. It was insane.’
“I felt strongly prompted to let her live with her dad. At first I ignored it. That was the worst thing I could ever imagine, and I would NEVER let it happen. Now she’s gone.”
‘When we lost her, we lost our way completely. The day she died, my heart didn’t break – it disintegrated.’: Baby dies of SIDS at daycare; family heals by choosing to ‘make the world a kinder, more loving place in her name’
“Our family of 4 was complete the day Scarlett came into the world. When we lost her, we lost our way. Our bouncing, baby girl died of SIDS at daycare just 2 weeks after I went back to work. The hospital staff literally held me up as I watched them work on her tiny, lifeless body. Deep into my grief, I had a realization; Scarlett would never want this for me. Her time on Earth was short, but her impact is undeniable.”
‘Get in the car,’ my mom forcefully tells me. My mind is racing. Turning me into jail? Where are we going? The drive feels like an eternity.’ She parks. ‘Do you see this place?,’ she chokes out.’
“I had an urge. I was terrified. I went to the only place I knew I was safe. She was asleep. I stood by her crib and stared at the greatest gift I had ever been given, my beautiful baby girl. As I looked at her, tears flooded out of me. That night, she saved my life.”
‘Girl, I bet you’ll get pregnant right after you adopt. Just watch!’ It’s nails on a chalkboard when I hear that.’
“We didn’t adopt in order to become pregnant. I never want my sweet girl to think she was SECOND best. You are the absolute BEST thing that ever happened to me.”
‘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.”
‘Wake up!’ My daughter was slumped on the couch. There was a gurgling sound coming from her throat. She stopped breathing.’: Mom believes daughter died from ‘cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity’ in energy drinks
“At 5:37 p.m., my daughter, who was always so full of life, was declared dead due to cardiac arrest. The nurses moved her over so I could sit next to her in bed. I laid there, talking to her all night, without a wink of sleep. I told her how proud I was of her and how much happiness came from being her mom. I didn’t know how I could ever live again.”
‘You are a boy, hunny,’ I would say to him gently. By age 4, he was flat out denying this could be true.’: Mom reflects on when her daughter ‘was born my son’
“Matthew was constantly asking to watch Disney princess movies. ‘Kids are kids,’ I thought. I loved my feminine, eccentric son. The problem was, the older he got, the more he did not love himself. He was always angry. He’d flip chairs at school. He was misunderstood, but to what degree I had no idea. ‘When I grow up and I’m a girl…’ My husband and I would correct him, and often, he’d be sad with the reality.”
‘How did I not see the signs? We made it to the children’s psych ward. I wanted to kiss the boo boos away, but I couldn’t.’: In the wake of 12-year-old daughter’s ‘suicide plan,’ mom says we can’t be ‘the perfect parent’ no matter how hard we try
“The doctor comes in. ‘Can I speak with you in private?’ I feel on the verge of a panic attack, but I simply smile and follow her to the nurse’s station. ‘So, what do you feel is going on?’ I explain the events of the phone call from school. She says, ‘We have no choice but to admit your daughter. She has a clear plan to commit suicide.’ My stomach is in knots.”
