“The call came just like it does in the movies. I sat in a rocking chair in her room and slid onto the floor as I heard the doctor speak. I stared at this little play clock. I can still see it so vividly — its tiny yellow hands stood still on its pink face. Time seemed to freeze in those moments. I would remember it as the day our life stopped.”
‘I slid onto the floor as I heard the doctor speak. ‘Why do I have to have cancer again, Mama?’ Time seemed to freeze.’: Girl battles neuroblastoma, ‘Izzy continued to fight and the rest of the world just kept going’
‘Please stop judging me for leaving the office at exactly 5 p.m. Being a full-time working mom with young kids is not easy.’: Mom pens thank-you letter to those who have shown her ‘grace’
“I know I’m missing this meeting, but my kid’s preschool graduation is more important. I know I was late today, but I can’t drop the baby off at daycare until 7:45 a.m. I know I seem distracted, but I am. I have an inconsolable, sick toddler and I’ve been awake since 4:30 a.m. I’m supposed to leave my personal life at the door when I come to the office, but when you are a mom to two small kids, that is hard to do.”
‘She may never walk again,’ my doctor said. ‘Like hell,’ I thought. I was 17. I’d been in a car accident.’: Single mom overcomes crippling car accident, alcoholism, daughter’s autism diagnosis, says ‘don’t count yourself out’
“I was about to move out, but I found out I was pregnant. I was running on fumes. I felt like I’d made a huge mistake becoming a mom. I wasn’t good at this. I drank to cope. My marriage ended explosively. I finally decided enough was enough when my daughter started copying everything I do. She reached for my beer, and I remember deciding, it was time to be done. For good. That was 8 months ago.”
‘It was playtime on the playground. My student looked anxious. I climbed to get closer to him, placed my foot on the rail and tumbled, hitting my head on a metal pole. I fell to the ground.’
“That’s it. That’s all it took. Five minutes to change my entire life.”
‘What are ya’ll doing here?’ She had a peculiar look on her face. ‘We have something to tell you.’ ‘If you’re pregnant or dropping out of school, you might as well leave now! GET OUT!’
“I heard the words ‘Oh crap!’ We shockingly stared at the pregnancy test. ‘What do I do?!,’ I asked. ‘You have to tell your mom.’ My mom was a ‘no nonsense’ woman. Everyone knew she was NOT to be played with. I had to tell her in public. We showed up, unannounced, at her job.”
‘She won’t make it through the night,’ the doctor said. Minutes from dying, she turned to me. ‘Mom, I can do this!’: Girl contracts Necrotizing Fasciitis, continues passion for dance as amputee
“Think she just had the flu, we took her to the hospital. The infection spread throughout her tiny body. She woke in a coma, her entire body wrapped in white gauze. A competitive dancer, she assured us, ‘Mom, I am going to dance again!’ We told the doctor, ‘Do anything you have to in order to save our baby girl!’”
‘It sounded like a freight train coming towards us. I swung open my door and began to run. When I finally broke out of the fire, I saw my crewmates were not behind me. I woke up a month later.’
“I ran up to one of the fire engines to look at myself in the mirror, but a firefighter pulled me away. They wouldn’t allow me to look at myself. I knew right then it must have been bad. Soon after that, it all went black.”
‘The past few years have included countless doctors appointments, medications, phone calls, specialists, 2 failed IUIs, and dozens of negative pregnancy tests.’
“To all the future moms out there – I see you, and others see you. We know your pain, and we feel your hope. Don’t give up.”
‘While I was in surgery my dad had his head shaved so ‘when I woke up I wouldn’t be alone, and we’d be in this together.’
“I have never felt more love than I have in that moment.”
