“I was squeaking down the linoleum hallway with my friend when she informed me with a smack of her bubble gum and a toss of her blonde hair that my sister was in fact, not real. As far as I knew, my sister was real. We had real fights. We exchanged real eye-rolls behind our parents’ backs. We slipped real ‘I’m sorry’ notes under each other’s doors after calling each other names. We were real sisters.”
‘You wouldn’t know, you don’t have a real sister.’ I was in third grade, when I suddenly stopped.’: Transracial adoptee declares she is ‘brown and deeply connected to her white family’
‘My sister and I are polar opposites. I’m Wednesday Adams. She’s Malibu Barbie.’: Woman shares striking contrasts with sibling, reminds us all to ‘accept and respect difference’
“Spirituality drives her, and I’m an atheist. She’s a meat eater, and I’m a vegetarian. While she dresses in beautiful rainbow and embraces her body no matter its size, I hide behind dark colors because it’s my comfort zone. We may bicker and think differently, but despite our differences, we love each other. She’s my role model, and I feel so fortunate to have her as a sister. Her smile can light an entire room.”
‘You’ve been burned. You’ve been talked bad about. You’ve been left out.’: Woman insists this is ‘your life,’ so ‘don’t wait’ for someone to include you
“You’ve felt like because one group didn’t want you, something must be terribly screwed up with you. But it’s not true. That ain’t nothing but dirty, nasty lies. I believed them for a long time myself.”
‘5 out of 6 of my sisters have been sexually assaulted. We’re all under 30. I’ve had ENOUGH.’: Woman pens open letter, claims we ‘can’t change the ugly,’ but we can ‘support each other through it’
“I’m tired of carrying pepper spray. I’m tired of clinging to my cup at parties like some wild animal out of fear of getting roofied, again. I’m tired of school dress codes. No, my shoulders are not sexy or distracting. I’m tired of women covering their bruises with makeup before work. Y’all, I am TIRED.”
‘Is it cancer?’ I had to tell my son, ‘I don’t know.’ There’s no treatment. We were told go home and live life.’: Twin brother suffers 2 brainstem strokes caused by a cavernous angioma, mom says it’s made her children ‘kinder, better’
“I had 3 happy, healthy, perfect kids. Until I didn’t. Zach called home from the school nurse with a headache. I followed our standard rule, ‘You aren’t throwing up, you don’t have a fever. Go back to class.’ For 2 days, he told me his eyes and ears felt weird. I told a friend, a nurse, that my son was holding his head funny. Within a minute she said, ‘You need to get him checked.’ I said, ‘Oh ok.’ Then she said, ‘I mean now.’”
‘Are you a boy or a girl?’ My daughter responded with the craziest look on her face. ‘I’m a girl!’ I knew she was gay. I always knew she was ‘different.’
“By the time she was 4, her tomboy phase became something different. I remember getting her ready for school. ‘Mom, I want to dress like a girl today!,’ she said. I went out to the living room and told my husband to ‘not make a big deal about what she was wearing.’ He was her protector.”
‘I looked at my mom, tears welling up. ‘Was I adopted?’ She knew this day would happen. She knew I’d want to know. My answer was a few clicks away.’
“I opened an unknown can of worms. Things started swirling in my head. ‘Was I not loved? Am I not worthy? Do I have siblings?’ I started at my computer screen. Same eye shape, same smile. I finally clicked send. Within a half hour, she responded. The pit of my stomach felt so sick.”
‘Hey Dad, I want to raise your son. I want him as my own,’ I insanely told my dying father. ‘I didn’t want to put that burden on you,’ he said. He died just 18 hours later.’
“‘Adopt him. You’re supposed to be his mom. You’re the one. Tell your dad. Tell him now.’ My dad visited me in dream. I was standing in a white room. He walked towards me holding a baby wrapped in a light blue blanket. He handed him over, smiled and kissed the baby’s head. When I woke up, I knew.”
‘Is the baby alright?’ Our pediatrician looked puzzled. ‘Are you and your partner related?’ I thought he was being disrespectful.’: Mom gives birth to 2 ‘albino beauties’
“I was shocked to see her hair was so white. ‘Your baby has 2 extra genes. Would you both agree to lab work to see where she got them from?’ Her father has dark hair and I have light brown hair. Never in a million years did I think I would have a blonde baby.”
‘I bet you’re glad someone actually wanted you.’ Black? Adopted by a white, Mennonite family?’: Adopted woman finally accepts she’s ‘innately enough’ after years of torment for ‘mixed-race’ family
“I’m 7 when a stranger approaches, points. ‘Who does she belong to?’ ‘Where are your real parents?’ I’m 12 and a group of boys spit on me, call me racist slurs. My crush’s mom tells me he isn’t allowed to be with people ‘like me.’ I can’t sleep. ‘You’re not really black.’ ‘You can’t really be Mennonite.’ I’m just now learning to be gentle with myself, and my past.”
